Beschreibung:

A RARE CHINESE "HUANG HUALI" WRITING BOX, late Ming Dynasty, the lid with ruyi head silhouette brass angle strengthening mounts and studs, the interior with four compartments (one lidded), with side carrying handles, 35.5cm wide x 23cm deep x 8cm high. This box is an exceptionally rare and early example of a Chinese made wooden box in the Dutch colonial style and was almost certainly made for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It belongs to a small and rarefied group of boxes made by Chinese woodworking masters in the 17th century Tao/Confusion tradition. The wood exhibits a lustrous and rich patination and the brass mounts are finely engraved. The best Huang Huali furniture was produced by cabinet makers in China's lower Yangtze River basin during the Ming Dynasty. The wood was much prized and it was reserved for furniture constructed for the court and for the wealthy and elite literati. Cf: Jacobsen, RD & N Grindley: Classical Chinese Furniture: In the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Paragon Publishing 1999.