Page 281 - Important Chinese Art Sothebys March 2019

Drawing inspiration from ancient Chinese architecture, the reflecting the artistic freedom and innovation that often
elegance of this classical table is evident in its enduring accompanies times of social and political upheaval when
popularity without changes made other than variations in old protocols are put to the test and new influences capture
dimensions to suit the household. tables of this remarkably the collective imagination. trim, smooth-surfaced, square
versatile form and size were designed as surfaces on which slender members are typically seen on corner-leg tables,
to display cherished antiquities and artifacts, view scroll for examples of this type see one in Qing Court Collection
paintings, practice calligraphy, painting or perhaps for illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
playing the qin. the present table is an exceptionally rare Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
example of its type; its clean, modern outline resulting from (I), hong Kong 2002, pl. 90 and another in Wang shixiang,
its straight-edged rectilinear members. square elements Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Ming and Early Qing
are a feature that appears in the 17th century during the Dynasties, hong Kong, 1990, pl. B78.
transitional period between the ming and Qing dynasty

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