Lot 265.  A cinnabar lacquer 'dragon' cabinet, 18th century; 16.8cm (22 1/8in x 14 3/4in x 6 5/8in). Estimate £10,000-15,000. Sold for £31,250 (€ 34,744). Photo: Bonhams.

The rectangular cabinet set with two pairs of hinged doors bordered with key-fret bands, each delicately carved with a ferocious five-clawed dragon detailed with horns, a curly mane and scales, coiling and striding in pursuit of the flaming pearl on a dense ground of crashing and foaming waves, all above a long drawer with four carp leaping from waves, the top, sides and the reverse covered with a floral diaper ground. 

Note: Compare with a cinnabar lacquer cabinet of similar form and design but larger in size, illustrated in Carving the Subtle Radiance of Colors: Treasured Lacquerware in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2008, p.160, pl.173.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, London, 14 May 2015