Lot 34
  • 34

Mirror case, Huanghuali wood Late Ming (1573 – 1644)

Estimate
200,000 - 200,000 HKD
bidding is closed

Description

This exquisite piece is different from the classic mirror boxes which comprise the main body of this piece but are without the lid covering the collapsible stand and its back support.

Exhibited

Washington D.C., 1997 – 2001, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Literature

Grace Wu Bruce, Chan Chair and Qin Bench: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 186 – 187

Catalogue Note

Similar examples:
Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Han-Shan Tang, London, 1986, p. 240 illustrates a similar piece but without a cover, now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. This piece is the only example with a lid of which this author is aware.

A beautifully worked piece for the dressing table. The lid lifts up to reveal a collapsible mirror stand, inset with exquisite open work panels of flowers and scrolling tendrils, the central section carved in quarter lobe form and there is a lotus leaf shaped support fitted to the bottom of the stand for the mirror to stand on. Below the top are three drawers, the drawer-fronts also carved.