Chinese Huanghuali Six Door Cabinet with Elaborate Carvings and Pegs

A Chinese, purportedly huanghuali, six door cabinet, the doors,…
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A Chinese, purportedly Huanghuali, six door cabinet, the doors, reducing in size from top to bottom with a space at the base. Accessable via a removable panel inside. Each door having elaborate pierced carvings depicting scrolling shapes and abstracted mythical beasts. Held by brass hinges, and peg locks. Each door has a flat optional board (in the same timber), to cover the piercings, if desired. These are held, or taken off by internal pegs. The whole of superb quality, constructed in the traditional pegged manner. The timber displaying characteristic warm amber to light reddish/brown tones. Having darker streaks in the manner of rosewood. On occasion, these streaks depict abstract figurative compositions. circa; likely early 20th century. With certificate from, "Hepplewhite Gallery", Singapore, dated 1999. Height 211 cm, width 123 cm, diameter 50 cm.

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  • Huanghuali Wood - Huanghuali is the most sought-after timber used in the construction of Chinese furniture because of its fine colour and grain.

    During Ming and early Qing dynasties, most of the best furniture was made from huanghuali wood.

    It is a member of the rosewood family and over time the surface mellows to a yellowish brown tone with the exposure to light.

    In recent years, furniture made from huanghuali wood has increased exponentially in value.
  • Manner of .... / Style of ..... - A cataloguing term where the item, in the opinion of the cataloguer is a work in the style of the artist, craftsman or designer, possibly of a later period.
  • Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
  • Rosewood - A dense timber that varies in shade to very light brown to almost black. When rosewood is cut and sanded the colour of the timber will turn black, and after polishing and exposure to daylight, the surface will gradually lighten over time to light brown with black streaks.

    The name comes from the odour emanating from the timber when it is planed, sanded or cut.

    Rosewood was very popular for use in Victorian furniture in the second half of the 19th century, and at that time most of the rosewood was imported from Brazil. However it also grows in India and Indonesia.

    It is used in the sold for chairs and table legs, but for carcase furniture such as side cabinets and bookcases, and for table tops it is always used as a veneer.

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