A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI ROUND-CORNER TAPERED CABINETS, YUANJIAOGUI MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY | 明十七世紀 黃花梨有櫃膛圓角櫃成對

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

左：安思遠，《Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties》，紐約，1971年，圖版126

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.

圓角櫃乃中式家具典雅之範。上窄下寬，櫃帽噴出，作臼窩以納門軸，乃從木造建築演化而來。由下至上收窄，尤顯挺拔、輕靈，櫃門及兩側如室內之牆，可靈活拆卸，櫃內空間一覽無遺。此式雛型為帶門大箱，宋人置於案上。南宋手卷《蠶織圖》中可尋一例，黑龍江省博物館藏，見 Sarah Handler，《Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture》，柏克萊，2001年，圖版15.5。

圓角櫃比例得當，光素無紋，故得恬雅韻致。現例一對採獨板而為櫃門，用料紋理流暢，色澤雋婉，木紋相映成趣。明清家宅素愛圓角櫃，所用尺寸不盡相同，皆呈上窄下寬狀。常置於文房，或收褒衣博帶，或存筆墨紙硯。《金瓶梅》中，西門慶便於書齋擺櫃，放官袍及配飾。

門後設板，將櫃一分為三，乃非尋常式樣，然有一例頗似，Cluney Murray 夫人蓄，錄於安思遠，《中國家具：明清硬木家具實例》，紐約，1971年，圖版126。