A HUANGHUALI SEAL CHEST, GUANPIXIANG

18th century

Footnotes

十八世紀 黄花梨官皮箱

Provenance: a British private collection

來源：英國私人收藏

The present lot forms part of a distinguished collection of classical Chinese furniture devotedly collected and lived with over the past three decades. The owner had the privilege of learning from the pre-eminent scholar of classical Chinese furniture, Wang Shixiang, as well as from the well-known dealer in classical Chinese furniture, Grace Wu Bruce.

Boxes such as the present one were typically designed for use on the scholar's desk, where they would have held a number of seals as well as the other trappings necessary to make seal impressions. These containers, however, were also employed by women and likely held their cosmetics. A similar seal chest to the present example is depicted on a table top in an illustration titled 'Reading a Letter at the Cosmetic Table', included in a woodblock edition of the 'Romance of the Western Chamber', dating to the Wanli period (1563-1620).

Compare with a similar huanghuali seal chest, 18th century and fitted with seven drawers, illustrated by T.Liu, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p.257 fig.252. See also a 17th century huanghuali chest from the Honolulu Academy of Art, Hawaii, illustrated by S.L.Little and J.Jensen, 'Chinese Furniture in the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The Frederick Mueller Bequest', in Chinese Furniture. Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p.63, fig.15.

A related huanghuali chest with lobed circular mounts, 17th century, and another with square and lobed mounts, 17th/18th century, were sold at Christie's New York, 16 September 1999, lots 68 and 60.