A rare pair of mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer cabinets, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 黑漆嵌螺鈿方角櫃

Property from an old European family collection
A rare pair of mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer cabinets
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

of upright rectangular section, each superbly decorated in mother of pearl inlays on a black lacquer ground, one cabinet with court ladies and children in a lush landscape around a lotus pound, the other with a gathering of immortals under the moon presenting auspicious offerings to a qilin
(2)
196 x 105.5 x 41.2 cm, 77⅛ by 41½ by 16¼ in.
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Collection particulière européenne
Rare paire de cabinets en laque avec incrustation de nacre, dynastie Qing, époque Kangxi
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歐洲私人收藏
清康熙 黑漆嵌螺鈿方角櫃

Condition Report:
The two cabinets have expected surface wear and some losses and old restorations to the mother of pearl and crushed gold powder inlays. All consistent with age and well expected with this type. There are some chips of lacquer of varying size to the black lacquer ground, especially along the bottom edges and feet edges. One of the two cabinets received more sun exposure than the other and with the surface is therefore less shiny and more toned, but this can be restored. The two cabinets basically remained untouched since their acquisition in 1954 and would benefit from some care from a professional restorer, especially to revive the shine of the one that has somewhat toned down, but overall they remain in good presentation state.

Catalogue Note:
It is very rare to find surviving large scale mother-of-pearl inlaid Chinese furniture of the late Ming and early Qing dynasty. Compare two 16th century two-door cabinets, one in the Tokyo National Museum and the other in the Okura Cultural Foundation in Tokyo, both illustrated in Mother-of-Pearl Inlay in Chinese Lacquer Art , Tokyo National Museum, 1981, cat. nos. 77 and 78. Also see a four-poster lacquer bed in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, (part 1) vol. 53, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 3.
Compare also another mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet, sold in our New York rooms, 18th September 2007, Lot 56.

Provenance:
Collection N.H. Conte G. C. di B., Lazio, Italy,

L'Antonina - Galleria d'Arte, Roma, 10th-24th Decembre 1962, lot 493.

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N.H. Conte G. C. di B收藏，拉齊奧，義大利

L'Antonina - Galleria d'Arte，羅馬，1962年12月10日至24日，編號493