A rare 'huanghuali' square-corner cabinet (Yuanjiaogui), 17th century | 明末清初 黃花梨方材圓角櫃

M. D. Flacks, Ltd., New York.

Christie's New York, 21st March 2013, lot 930.

馬克斯・弗拉克斯，紐約

紐約佳士得2013年3月21日，拍品編號930

Tall, sloping side two-drawer cabinets such as the present pair belong to the most elegant and recognisable forms of classical Chinese furniture. The extravagant use of large, book-matched huanghuali panels, with their attractive swirls in a subtle variety of tones, is also a powerful statement of wealth and taste. The present piece is notable for its combination of characteristics from two classic cabinet types. According to Wang Shixiang, cabinets can be divided into two primary categories: those constructed with circular members, known as yuanjiaogui, and those with square members, referred to as fangjiaogui. Typically, fangjiaogui do not have a splay and use metal hinges instead of wooden pivots, which are commonly found in yuanjiaogui. (Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, London, 1986, p. 30) However, this piece diverges from the conventional designs by featuring no metal hinges, characteristics that are more aligned with yuanjiaogui. Yet, the angled top and the square legs distinctly mark it as different from the traditional yuanjiaogui design. Probably for this reason, it was sometimes classified as yuanjiaogui, regardless its angled profile, see, for example, a piece in very similar profile, but with different lock design, illustrated in ibid., pl. 142. 

Compare a closely related but slightly taller example, illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkley, 2001, pl. 15.9, p. 248; another illustrated in Karen Mazurkewich, Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting Antiques, Rutland, 2006, pl. 330; and a related huanghuali square-corner cabinet of similar size, sold at Christie’s New York, 22nd / 23rd March 2012, lot 1726.

Compare also several yuanjiaogui examples in a similar design, one illustrated in George N. Kates, Chinese Household Furniture, New York, 1948, pl. 8; another published in Sarah Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkley, 2005, p. 179; and a third of slightly smaller size, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd June 2015, lot 2824.