Lot 146. A huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinet, yuanjiaogui, Mid Qing Dynasty; 111cm (43 3/4in) high x 69cm (27 3/16in) wide x 43cm (16 15/16in) deep. Estimate HK$ 800,000-1,200,000. Sold for HK$ 877,500 (€ 94,584). Photo: Bonhams.

The floating panel-top set into a standard mitre, mortise and tenon, tongue and groove frame with rounded corners showing exposed tenons on the short sides, the four main stiles gently splayed and double-tenoned into the top, rounded on the exterior edges and square in the interior, beaded along the edge between the stiles and the side panels and doors, each door inset with a single panel and a dovetailed transverse stretcher tenoned into the door frame, the sides inset with hardwood panels, the interior fitted with three removable shelves, the door frame members and the central stile fitted with three curved rectangular metal plates with three square lock receptacles.

Provenance: A Hong Kong private collection

Note: The present cabinet with its clean and simple lines, and a single piece of huanghuali wood as the top panel, represents one of the most popular and successful designs in classical Chinese furniture construction, and was widely admired throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Compare with a similar small huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinet, Ming dynasty, illustrated by G.Wu Bruce, Two Decades of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2010, p.220.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, 1 Dec 2020, Hong Kong, Admiralty