This Very Rare and Unusual Antique Chinese Scholar's Manuscript Storage Book Chest with A Lift Style Door and Carved Calligraphy is made of good Ju wood and Jar-Zhen hardwood except for the top and the sides which look to be a type of Chinese cedar. It has a shelf inside and a bottom drawer. The chest is enclosed on all sides with separate brass bands and a rarely seen old brass front plate in a begonia flower shape with a cicada resting on top of it. It also has two old side brass handle for easy carrying.

The calligraphy reads in several parts with the two characters on the top right "己未, Ji-Wei Year", indicating the 56th year of the ancient Chinese 60-year cycling "干支, Gan-Zhi" calendar system. The two characters at the bottom left "蘭亭, Lan-Ting" is probably a location name which is in now Zhejiang province. It is the same place where the famous Eastern Jin Dynasty calligrapher Wong-Xi-Zhi wrote his famous "Lan-Ting-Xu" manual. The five characters in the middle spreading from top left to bottom right with "Rui Feng Shan Ren, Auspicious Peak Mountain Hermit" for the first four characters. The meaning of the last character is unknown. This character is usually associated with some civil duty position or responsibility, but it could also just be the way the owner of this book chest granted himself for his vision as a scholar. This chest is estimated to be from the 1800's.

Dimensions: 18" L x 13 1/2" D x 15 3/4" H

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