A RARE CHINESE IMPERIAL CINNABAR LACQUER 'DRAGON' CABINET

QIANLONG 1736-95

The centre of the cabinet with a rectangular open compartment flanked by four drawers, each incised with octagonal floral patterns and with a metal handle shaped as tassels, the central section contained between six hinged doors, each carved with a scaly five-clawed dragon amidst billowing clouds, their handles shaped as cicadas, with two further dragon panels divided by diaper to each of the two shorter sides, the top finely worked with the same diaper pattern, with key fret borders throughout the design, 54cm x 47.7cm x 18cm.

Provenance: from a British private collection, purchased from Adrian Joseph of Allen Management in 1984.

Cf. China Guardian Auctions, 21st November 2009, lot 2122 for a very similar Qianlong cabinet; see also Classics of the Forbidden City, Imperial Furniture of Ming & Qing Dynasties, pp.348-349, no.386 for a pair of comparable pieces in the east room of the Palace of Earthly Tranquility in the Forbidden City; see also J Ayers, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, p.878, nos.2020 and 2021 for a related pair of cabinets also with dragons.