JAPON - XVIIe SIECLE & ANGLETERRE - FIN DU XVIIIe... Lot n° 13

Lacquered wood, gilded bronze, Japanese painted wood, 17th century for the Angleterre cabinet, end of 18th century for the leg H. 164 cm, W. 92 cm, D. 44 cm Associated leg This two-leaf cabinet presents a landscape scene in relief in black and gold lacquered wood (makié lacquer). It stands on a base whose belt is decorated with interlacing and blooming flowers. The ensemble rests on three column-shaped legs with Ionic capitals. The play on voids and solids characterizes Japanese furniture influenced by Chinese painters such as Ma Yuan (active between 1190 and 1225) under the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Emptiness makes it possible to see the full and the full underlines emptiness (cf. François Cheng, Emptiness and Full: The Chinese Pictorial Language, 1979). This aesthetic is also linked to Zen Buddhism, which emphasizes the notions of simplicity and simplicity. Our piece of furniture was transformed in England, probably at the same time as the realization of its base. The interior has numerous grooves for the attachment of modular shelves, suggesting that this cabinet was intended for an enthusiastic curio cabinet lover.