18TH-19TH CENTURY

Miniature compound cabinets of this type were made for display on a kang, which served as a seat in the day and a bed at night. The present 'cabinet and hat chest' are made separately, as the full-size prototype would be. A pair of small zitan 'compound cabinets and hat chests', also carved on the sides and door panels with dragons in flight, in the Shanghai Museum of Art, is illustrated in Shanghai Museum: Chinese Ming and Qing Furniture Gallery, Shanghai, 2007, p. 25. For a full-size prototype, see the massive pair of zitan ‘dragon’ compound cabinets and hat chests, dated to the 19th century, sold at Christie’s New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 962.