Edo period (mid-late 17th century); the stand (late 17th century), Anglo-Dutch style

Details

A Lacquer Cabinet on European Stand
Edo period (mid-late 17th century); the stand (late 17th century), Anglo-Dutch style
The cabinet decorated gold, silver and red hiramaki-e, takamaki-e and nashiji on a black ground, the front with two hinged doors decorated with a Chinese scholar holding a scroll beneath a plum and pine in a garden, the top depicting a coastal scene with pine trees (Miho no Matsubara) in the foreground and in the distance Mount Fuji, each side with a bird in flight beside bamboo and autumn flowers, the back with a spray of kikyo [Chinese bellflower], all bordered by bands of shippo hanabishi, the interior of the doors with chrysanthemums, autumn flowers, camellia and plum in vases, nine drawers in four sizes with camellia and willow, with gilt copper fittings comprising an elaborate lockplate, four strap-hinges to each door, corner protectors and a carrying handle on each side; on an elaborately carved stand in the late 17th century Anglo-Dutch style, silvered and glazed, the deep frieze beneath a foliate carved cornice centred by embracing cherubim which emerge from flower-festooned acanthus scrolls, the canted and serpentined herm supports formed as “arabesque” cherubim with raised wings, emerging from acanthus-enriched feet
60 x 60.5 x 45.5 cm. (cabinet); 81.8 x 80 x 53 cm. (stand)

Provenance

Lord Plender, Ovenden, Kent

Literature

“Old English Walnut and Lacquer Furniture”, R.W.Symonds, 1921
“Furniture in The Collection of Lord Plender”, Apollo, Vol. XIV, 1931
“Furniture from the Indies”, The Connoisseur, Vol. XCIII, 1934
The Connoisseur, June 1943
The Antique Collector, May/June 1944
Country Life, 14th June, 1956

Special Notice

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Brought to you by

Anastasia von Seibold

avonseibold@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3127

Lot Essay

Lord Plender’s collection of furniture at Ovenden in Kent comprised principally English pieces of the 17th and 18th centuries. The present Japanese cabinet was probably imported to England, during Charles II’s reign, when “Indian goods” arriving via Holland, became the height of fashion. The trade between Japan and Europe began with the Portuguese in the 16th century, who shared a monopoly with the Chinese, but passed later to the Dutch who remained dominant until the opening of Japan in the 19th century.

Despite the efforts of European “japanners” to discover a substitute, Japanese lacquer formed from urushi, the sap of the lacquer tree, rhus vernicifera, was always superior, both in technical quality and in its design and composition.

The “arabesque” cherubim of the stand may be related to a table attributed to the sculptor-carver Grinling Gibbons (d. 1721), while its frieze relates to carvings in Trinity College chapel, Oxford. See David Green, Grinling Gibbons, (London, 1964), pl. 119 and 121.

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