A CARVED HONGMU 'DRAGON' COFFER, LIANERCHU 19th/20th centuryA CARVED HONGMU 'DRAGON' COFFER, LIANERCHU19th/20th centuryThe coffer with a rectangular top panel fitted with everted ends above a pair of shaped spandrels, a row of two drawers and a pair of hinged doors, all elaborately carved with elaborate designs of dragons chasing the flaming pearl amidst clouds and above waves and rocks, all raised on four rectangular legs. 158.5cm (62 3/8 in) wide x 87.5cm (34 3/8in) high x 45.5cm (17 7/8in) deep.十九/二十世紀 紅木雕雲龍紋翹首聯二廚Coffers played a prominent part in interiors of the Ming and Qing dynasties due to their impressive size and were used mostly for the storage of items such as bedding and clothes. See a coffer fitted with drawers depicted in a woodblock print of the 'Classic of Lu Ban Jing, Lu Ban Jing, a Ming dynasty architectural manual, illustrated by K.Ruitenbeek, Carpentry & Building in Late Imperial China: A Study of the Fifteenth-Century Carpenter's Manual Lu Ban Jing, 1993, The Netherlands, p.20, vol.2, p.43. Compare with a related three-drawer coffer with everted ends illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol.2, Hong Kong, 1990, p.169, no.E12.is_parse: 20230413image: yuzhan_bonhams_item.jpgsold_price_type: £