Page 150 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, MARYLAND
~881
A RARE HUANGHUALI ROCK TABLE
17TH CENTURY
The single, foating-panel-top is set in a rectangular frame with molded edges
above a tall waist and plain, beaded apron. The whole is supported by ‘giant
arm’s’ braces and raised on beaded legs of square section terminating in fnely
carved hoof feet.
33 in. (83.8 cm.) high, 43¿ in. (109.5 cm.) wide, 21¿ in. (53.6 cm.) deep

$200,000-300,000

Of elegant proportions and form, the present table would most likely have
been used to support an object of great weight. The block joint at the corner,
which secures the waist to the leg, is an extension of the leg. Further, the use
of curved ‘giant’s arm’s’ braces indicate that the table was used for displaying
a scholar’s rock, large archaic bronze vessel, or a censer. Wang Shixiang
illustrates a line drawing of this joint in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture:
Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 121. no 3.32a. The
strength of this joint allows for the table to be supported without stretchers,
thereby creating a lighter and more rarefed form. A larger huanghuali
burl-inset table with similar joint and ‘giant’s arm’s’ braces is illustrated in
Grace Wu Bruce, The Best of the MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, vol. 1,
Beijing, 2018, pp. 112-15. A smaller huanghuali table with similar joint, but
constructed without ‘giant arm’s’ braces was sold at Christie’s New York, 22
March 2019, lot 1669.
十七世紀 黃花梨霸王棖長方桌

(detail)

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