A huanghuali chest, Ming dynasty, 17th century | 明十七世紀 黃花梨三屜箱

C.L. Ma Antiques, Hong Kong, 1987.

馬可樂，樂成行，香港，1987年

Masterfully constructed with plain panels of the highest quality, the present huanghuali chest displays the contemporaneous artisans’ technical virtuosity and is a superb example of late Ming dynasty aesthetics. These chests may have two doors like the present example or a single removable panel, the common denominator seems to be their possession of a number of drawers. The late Ming dynasty scholar Zhang Zilie explains in Zhengzitong [Correct character master] that all containers bearing a lid and base with storage purposes can be referred to as 'xiang' (chest), and other examples include the likes of yaoxiang (medicine chest), bingxiang (ice chest), guanpixiang (table-top chest). Especially favoured amongst scholars during the late Ming dynasty.

箱黃花梨製，櫃頂以格角榫攢邊打槽平鑲面板，櫃門相同並採黃花梨獨板，門框鑲銅面葉、橢圓形合葉及方形吊牌。櫃門內設有三屜。箱四面及頂全用黃花梨木料，用料講究。整體製作精細，方正大方，而通體光素，不加雕飾，展現了黃花梨木質本身，優雅美妙的自然紋理。晚明名士張自烈著《正字通》曰：「凡可藏物有底蓋者，皆曰箱。」明式傢具中箱具種類繁多，有衣箱、藥箱、冰箱、轎箱；書房中有印匣、官皮箱、書箱等，且樣式各異。而各類書箱更是文人雅仕書齋中不可缺少的傢具，材質、做工更能顯示主人之身份地位。