Fine and Rare 17th Century Japanese Mulberry Wood Gilt-Lacquer Cabinet on Stand

A rare Chinese polychrome Coromandel or ‘Bantam Ware’ lacquer casket or table cabinet, Kangxi period (1661-1722). Circa 1700. This fine small Chinese-export lacquer fitted casket is decorated overall with polychrome incised decoration. Opening with two doors revealing a red interior with fitted drawers and a hinged rising top. In superb, almost entirely original condition, retaining its vivid colours and fine details with courtiers in a pavilion and on horseback amidst foliage and formal palace gardens. The small bun-type feet are historical replacements. Interestingly bearing an antique-script inventory #25 and A I on the base. Nb. Bantamwork or Coromandel lacquer, not to be confused with ‘japanning’, is the term applied to decoration that is cut into a layer of gesso and then lacquered in colours. Much of the lacquer was transhipped from China through Coromandel in India, or the Dutch colony Batavia, Java. References: Coromandel lacquer or 'Bantamwork', with its characteristic incised decoration, was made in Henan province in Northern China from the latter-part of the Ming dynasty and exported to Europe from the end of the 17th Century through the East India Company's and VOC trading posts on the Coromandel Coast of India. The technique consisted in overlaying a base of wood with a series of increasingly fine white clays and fibrous grasses. Over this surface, lacquer was applied and polished before the design was incised and the hollowed out portions filled with colour and gilt and finished with a clear lacquer to protect it. Although John Stalker and George Parker used the term 'Bantamwork', the contemporary layman usually called it 'cutt-work', 'cutt Japan' or 'hollow burnt Japan'. Stalker and Parker discuss two types of 'Bantam-work' - flat and incised - in their 'Treatise on Japanning and Varnishing' (1688), noting that it 'was done in colors mix't with a gum water'. They also considered that it was 'almost obsolete, and out of fashion, out of use and neglected....' although admitted that 'it was very pretty, and some are more fond of it, and prefer it to the other...'. This casket/ table cabinet now on offer is related to one formerly with Malletts and illustrated in A. Bowett, 'English Furniture 1660-1714: From Charles II to Queen Anne' (2002) p. 150, plates 5:9. A much larger yet closely-related Bantam work coffer with rising lid was offered in the 'Asian Art in Cologne' sale lot 114 on 11th December 2021. Estimated @ £ 60,000 - £79,000. Mme de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, was an avid collector and admirer of Chinese Coromandel or Bantam Work, and was probably largely responsible for the very high prices recorded for such pieces, sometimes 10 times or more the price of ordinary furniture of equivalent quality. A Coromandel cabinet...

A rare chinoiserie standing double corner cabinet, or cupboard. English, George I-period, ca 1720. Often erroneously referred to as lacquer work, this is japanned. Beautifully decorated with idyllic scenes of rockwork, pagodas, people, trees, birds, water, with bridges and a boat. This is a lovely and very useful addition to a room - where corners can present furnishing dilemmas - and this is a chic antique drinks cabinet. These have always been very hard to find, as opposed to the more usual Georgian hanging corner cupboards...

A sophisticated Queen Anne-period chinoiserie japanned chest raised on elegant cabriole legs with 'pony foot' carved detailing. This early-18th century chest on stand demonstrates the charming and highly fashionable English domestic interpretation of oriental scenes of pagodas, rockwork, trees, ornamental bridges, mythical birds, and figures dressed in the oriental manner, holding parasols and cavorting in gardens. All in remarkable condition having survived some three hundred years. Chests on cabriole supports of this form were also very much in fashion in the American colonies during this early Queen Anne-period (1702-1714). Sometimes erroneously referred to as ‘'lacquer''. The fashion icon Coco Chanel furnished her exquisite Paris apartments largely in the European chinoiserie taste. References: V & A Museum, London - The development of English black japanning 1620-1820. Literature and further reading: John Stalker and George Parker...

An antique Venetian rococo japanned (or 'lacquer') cabinet. This rare and sophisticated antique cabinet separates in two, with bombé and serpentine profiles. The particularly fine ...

An exquisite antique Japanese Meiji period Shibayama Shodana cabinet, circa 1880. One of the finest antique Shibayama cabinets one will see, ...

This beautiful two doors cabinet is made of black and red lacquered wood presenting Chinese sceens and decorations in gold tones. This is a French work. Circa 1940

An 18th century Chinese lacquered and intricately carved and hand painted cabinet of small proportions . A beautiful all over patina and aged surface , the entirety of the cabinet is painstakingly decorated with landscape , coastal scenes , figures , birds , flowers etc the cabinet . The panelled doors to the front , bottom drawer & feet are carved in a deep relief showing various scenes , embellished with red lacquer and gold leaf , retaining its original engraved metal work . This cabinet originates from the Fujian province...

Rectangular cabinet has nine drawers inside. Hinges, corner mounts and lock plates in gilt brass. Decorated with river landscapes, insects, birds and animals in pairs. The stand is i...