{"id":95019,"date":"2021-09-21T18:07:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T16:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/?p=95019"},"modified":"2022-05-04T12:15:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T10:15:51","slug":"chinese-mahogany-and-mother-of-pearl-cabinet-19th-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/chinese-mahogany-and-mother-of-pearl-cabinet-19th-century\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese mahogany and mother of pearl cabinet, 19th century"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row unlock_row_content=”yes” row_height_percent=”0″ override_padding=”yes” h_padding=”2″ top_padding=”1″ bottom_padding=”5″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_percent=”100″ shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ row_height_use_pixel=””][vc_column column_width_use_pixel=”yes” gutter_size=”3″ font_family=”font-134980″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ zoom_width=”0″ zoom_height=”0″ column_width_pixel=”800″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”834657″]Just like our European furniture, Chinese furniture comes in several categories, even within the high-end furniture. In the case of furniture made of precious wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, it is appropriate to refer to it as luo-tien<\/i>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text_font=”font-202503″ text_size=”h1″ text_uppercase=”” uncode_shortcode_id=”473389″]Mahogany: the Lucky Replacement for the Chinese Zitan[\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”121999″]Chinese cabinetmakers regularly inlay mother-of-pearl motifs with finesse on this type of luo-tien<\/em> mahogany furniture. Traditionally, sponsors prefer auspicious patterns, which is what we can see on our piece of furniture.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”94735″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”958252″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”181713″]The first two ideograms on the upper belt of this cabinet designate L\u00f9 and F\u00fa, two of the characters who accompany Sh\u00f2u. Together, they embody the Three Stars of Happiness and are particularly lavish with good fortune.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image media=”94729″ media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”895596″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”188298″]\u7984 L\u00f9: depicted as a mandarin, he wears a long blue or green coat, a hat and holds a scroll in his hand. He is often surrounded by children and by homonymy is sometimes replaced by a stag. It is the star of emoluments, official dignities, honors and pecuniary benefits.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”764055″]\u798f F\u00fa: depicted as a dignified official, he is dressed in a long red and gold coat and wears the hat assimilated to his status. He often holds a gold or silver ingot in his hands. By homonymy, he is sometimes replaced by a bat. It is the star of prosperity and good fortune.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image media=”94731″ media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”871536″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image media=”94745″ media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”112515″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”124698″]\u58fdSh\u00f2u: On the middle belt is the ideogram designating the third Star of Happiness, Sh\u00f2u the star of prosperity. It is by far the most important of the three, hence his special place on our cabinet. Sh\u00f2u is a very ancient Chinese stellar deity.<\/p>\n

It is the only one not inspired by a historical character and it is this seniority that gives him a privileged place. He is the Star of Longevity, recognizable by his long coat with wide sleeves, his bald and bulging head and his long white moustache. In his left hand he holds a long stick with a twisted end and in his right hand a peach of immortality. By homonymy, he is sometimes replaced by a pine.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”157777″]Near the names of these three characters, the mother-of-pearl inlay shows their attributes. The hu de L\u00f9, a ceremonial tablet that was traditionally held in front of the torso of officials when they approached the emperor. The ruyi (a kind of sceptre) and the ingot are the attributes of F\u00fa. The tablets represented on the drawers are probably those on which Sh\u00f2u writes the dates of life and death of each human being.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”95022″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”322587″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”555298″]On the doors, spring symbols announce the arrival of this season of nature’s renewal and prodigality, while the branches of prunus in bloom are an auspicious symbol.<\/p>\n

The butterflies present in several places of the furniture are a symbol of joy appearing with the summer. Often flying in couples, the butterfly is one of the Chinese emblems of marital fidelity.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”94733″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”115025″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”280448″]Finally, the bat – “f\u00fa” in Chinese – is a homonym of F\u00fa, the Star of Prosperity and Good Fortune. It indirectly inherits the supposed virtues of its namesake and embodies luck in Chinese cultures. <\/span><\/p>\n

This piece of Chinese or Chinese-influenced furniture, which has come down to us in perfect condition with no missing marquetry, was used as a small storage unit, perhaps for an elegant room in which the tea or incense ceremony was held. Was it brought back to satisfy the Japanese craze in Europe? At that time, this craze still awkwardly mixed the productions of these two neighboring countries… In any case, the essence of mahogany and the Chinese cabinet makers practices leave no doubt about the dating of this piece of furniture from the second half of the 19th century. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”129974″]<\/p>\n

Marielle Brie
\n<\/strong>Art Historian for Art Market and Cultural Media
\nAuthor of the blog Objets d’Art et d’Histoire<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High-end furniture in 19th century China, Luo-tien furniture is characterized by a Chinese mahogany frame and mother-of-pearl inlays with carefully chosen motifs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":94738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Armoire chinoise en acajou de Chine et nacre, fin XIXe si\u00e8cle","_seopress_titles_desc":"Mobilier haut de gamme dans la Chine du XIXe si\u00e8cle, les meubles luo-tien se caract\u00e9risent par un b\u00e2ti en acajou chinois et des incrustations de nacre burgaut\u00e9e dont les motifs sont choisis avec soin.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"Armoire chinoise en acajou de Chine et nacre, fin XIXe si\u00e8cle","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"Mobilier haut de gamme dans la Chine du XIXe si\u00e8cle, les meubles luo-tien se caract\u00e9risent par un b\u00e2ti en acajou chinois et des incrustations de nacre burgaut\u00e9e dont les motifs sont choisis avec soin.","_seopress_social_fb_img":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/armoire-bordelaise-acajou-louis-xv-15-xviii-18-siecle-scaled.jpeg","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"Armoire chinoise en acajou de Chine et nacre, fin XIXe si\u00e8cle","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"Mobilier haut de gamme dans la Chine du XIXe si\u00e8cle, les meubles luo-tien se caract\u00e9risent par un b\u00e2ti en acajou chinois et des incrustations de nacre burgaut\u00e9e dont les motifs sont choisis avec soin.","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/armoire-bordelaise-acajou-louis-xv-15-xviii-18-siecle-scaled.jpeg","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"Meuble chinois","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[431,162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dossier-art-antiques","category-dossier-art-antiquites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pipat-antiquites.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}