The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung. Lot 3. A finely carved and reticulated huanghuali 'chilong' seal chest, 17th century; 49.2 by 35 by h. 41.2 cm. Lot sold: 2,772,000 HKD  (Estimate: 600,000 - 800,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2022

the hinged top cover intricately reticulated with a pair of sinuous chilong writhing among scrolling clouds carved in varying levels of relief, each dragon playfully grasping the other's bifurcated tail in addition to its own, the front doors similarly reticulated, the sides pierced with rows of stylised kui dragons, the back carved in low relief with confronting kui dragons rendered in angular scrollwork, the interior set with a large drawer with five smaller drawers below, all supported on a flanged base, the doors and edges reinforced with metal strap hinges, door pulls, lock receptacles and a ruyi-head clasp.

Provenance: Eastern Pacific Co. (Hei Hung-Lu), Hong Kong, 31st January 1981.

Literature: Selected Treasures of Chinese Art: Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1990, cat. no. 255.

Exhibited: Selected Treasures of Chinese Art: Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1990-91.

Note: Finely reticulated and superbly carved in relief, the present seal chest ranks among the finest examples of huanghuali chests. The dynamic scene on the top is intricately decorated with a pair of sinuous chilong, grasping both its own and its companion's bifurcated tails, thereby forming a loop as if dancing together through swirling clouds. The rotational symmetry of the composition allows the main design to be appreciated from multiple angles, either upright from the front or upside-down from the back when the top is opened. The front doors are further decorated with a pair of symmetrical chilong writhing vigorously in a dense sea of clouds beneath the sun and the moon.

For other rare relief-decorated huanghuali table-top chests, see an example attributed to the 16th to 17th century, illustrated in Splendor of Style: Classical Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1999, pp. 182-3. A chest with only the front doors decorated in relief, depicting the Queen Mother of the West and the King of the East, was formerly in the collection of Dr S.Y. Yip, included in Grace Wu Bruce, Chan Chair and Qin Bench: The Dr S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 182-183, and sold in these rooms, 5th April 2017, lot 3508. Compare a 17th-century chest carved with prunus in relief but lacking openwork, from Hei Hung Lu and Robert Blumenfield collection, sold at Christie's New York, 22nd March 2012, lot 1310.

Sotheby's. HOTUNG The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1, Hong Kong, 8 October 2022