Lot 45. A pair of huanghuali round-corner tapered cabinets, yuanjiaogui, Ming dynasty, 17th century; 96 by 51 by h. 179 cm, 37 ¾ by 20 by h. 70 ½ in. Estimate: 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD. Lot sold 6,467,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

each constructed with a rectangular projecting top supported on splayed corner posts enclosing a pair of panelled doors within round moulded frames flanking a central stile, surmounting a horizontal band divided into three sections, all above plain apron and spandrels, the interior fitted with two shelves.

Literature: Left: Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese furniture. Hardwood examples of the Ming and early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 126.

Note: The round-corner cabinet is one of the most elegant and recognisable form of classical Chinese furniture. Its subtle sloping stiles and wood-hinged construction with the top hanging over the stiles, developed from principles and aesthetic ideals that were well-established in Chinese wood architecture. Like pillars or columns, the side stiles gently taper to increase the illusion of height and lightness, while the panelled doors and sides, like walls within a room, can be easily removed to reveal the space within. The design appears to have originated from large chests with panelled doors that by the Song period were kept on tables. A chest of this type is illustrated in the Southern Song dynasty anonymous handscroll Sericulture, in the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum, illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, pl. 15.5.

These round-corner cabinets owe their gracefulness to their perfect proportions and clean, unadorned surfaces. The powerful swirls and attractive hues of the wood become the focal point of the design, as on these pair where the panels set into the doors, originally cut from the same log and placed side by side, feature mirroring grain patterns. These elegant cabinets were a popular type of domestic furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasty, and were made of various sizes and with more or less pronounced sloping sides. They were kept in scholar's studios and used to store either clothes or writing instruments. The Ming dynasty vernacular novel Jin Ping Mei [Plum in the Golden Vase] mentions a cabinet in the study of Ximen Qing, the corrupt merchant protagonist of the story, which contained his official robes and accessories.

Cabinets with the panel below the doors divided in three sections are unusual although a very similar cabinet from the collection of Mrs Cluney Murray, is illustrated in Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 126.