Page 94 - SOtheby's Hong Kong Fine Chinese Art May 2018

Masterfully carved from the treasured and rare zitan wood, the The present table is notable for the ‘rope-twist’ stretchers, a
generous size of this elegant table suggests it was made for style that was developed during the Qianlong reign and often
the emperor’s personal use. Zitan, a member of the rosewood inset with jade or cloisonné panels; see a zitan table carved
family, was a rare commodity during the eighteenth century with a similar twisted rope and bi-disc designs, in the Palace
due to its small size and slow pace of growth. For a discussion Museum, Beijing, published in A Treasury of Ming and Qing
of zitan and its types, see Tian Jai Qing, ‘Zitan and Zitan Dynasty Palace Furniture from the Palace Museum Collection,
Furniture’, Orientations, December 1994, pp 43-49. vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, pl. 203, together with a black-lacquered
kang table, decorated with circular cloisonné plaques, pl. 271;
Long zitan tables are extremely rare, and only a small number
and a pair of hardwood tables inset with jade and cloisonné
of this size have been sold at auction; see one, from the
plaques, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3607.
collections of Robert H. Ellsworth and John Alex McCone, sold
in our New York rooms, 26th November 1991, lot 499, and Tables of this type were often made in pairs or sets of four to
offered again, 23rd March 2011, lot 674; and a slightly smaller allow for a symmetrical placement within a large hall, a formal
version also sold in our New York rooms, 20th March 2002, arrangement particularly fashionable during the Qing dynasty.
lot 320. They were also placed in bedrooms next to the large canopied
bed to provide a platform to lean on, as writing and painting
surfaces in a studio, or in private chambers where they were
used for private and informal meals.

92 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比