A HUANGHUALI TWO-DRAWER ALTAR COFFER, LIANERCHU
Qing DynastyThe rectangular top with two panels enclosed in a mitered frame and set with everted flanges to either short end, over shaped spandrels flanking two drawers, each framed with a scrolling-edge panel, over a wide three-section panel and plain spandrelled apron supported on straight legs of rectangular section with beading to the inside edge, the circular brass lockplates with bail handles. 159cm (62 1/2in) long x 88.5cm (34 6/8in) high x 57cm (22 1/2in) deep.
注脚
清 黃花梨帶翹頭聯二櫥Provenance: an important European private collection來源:歐洲重要私人收藏The present altar coffer is notable for its elegant proportions and for the fine grain and rich honey-colour of the wood. Its design was inspired by coffers produced during the Ming dynasty, which displayed an outstanding choice of huanghuali timber and exceptional craftsmanship. This is aptly demonstrated in the restrained balance allowing the superb timber the pride of place within the powerful geometric design formed by the careful balance between the drawers, legs, top and beading.Coffers played a prominent part in Ming and Qing dynasty interiors due to their impressive size and were used mostly for the storage of items such as bedding and clothes. A coffer with drawers is depicted in a woodblock print in the 'Classic of Lu Ban Jing, Lu Ban Jing, a Ming architectural manual, illustrated by K.Ruitenbeek, Carpentry & Building in Late Imperial China: A Study of the Fifteenth-Century Carpenter's Manual Lu Ban Jing, 1993, The Netherlands, p.20, vol.2, p.43. Here, the coffer, bearing a mirror stand with an openwork panel, is depicted in a lady's dressing room.Compare with a three-drawer coffer of similar proportions and openwork dragon spandrels in Ming Furniture, Ltd., 1987, p.15, no.12 illustrated on the front cover. See, also, a three-drawer altar coffer illustrated by R.H.Ellsworth, Chinese Hardwood Furniture: Examples From the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p.163, pl.61. Compare with a related huanghuali three-drawer coffer, circa 1550-1600, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the type of which may have served as the inspiration source for the present example, illustrated by C.Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1997, p.84.櫥面以榫卯攢框平鑲二拼面心,兩端翹頭。櫥面下兩具抽屜臉貼壺門式券口,悶倉立牆中加兩根短柱,分三段裝板。牙條光素,兩側掛牙曲線不繁,與屜上券口飾板遙相呼應。腿足方材,四腿八挓,厚重而不失挺拔。櫥具形如本例,抽屜之下設一空間封閉的「悶倉」的,統稱「悶戶櫥」;棖間加設立牆裝兩個抽屜的即為聯二櫥。此類櫥具既可陳設物品,又可用於貯藏,在明清時期極為流行,也是舊時必備的嫁妝之一。明《魯班經匠家鏡》插圖版畫中描繪了一件類似家具,上置鏡台,擺放於閨閣之中;見K.Ruitenbeek著,《Carpentry & Building in Late Imperial China: A Study of the Fifteenth-Century Carpenter's Manual Lu Ban Jing》,卷二,荷蘭,1993年,頁20,頁43。參考一件聯三櫥,比例及裝飾風格可與本例比對,見《Ming Furniture Ltd.》,紐約,1987年,頁15,編號12及圖錄封面。另見一例收錄於安思遠著,《Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties》,紐約,1971年,頁163,圖版61。維多利亞與阿爾伯特博物館館藏一例約1550至1600年聯三櫥,見柯律格著《Chinese Furniture》,倫敦,1997年,頁84,可資比對。
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