Page 35 - Sotheby's Part II Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022
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Impressive for its generous proportions, this monumental table is   Ϥࣩഐ࿴ཡࣦdථҖ˫᎘ீᎉฆѶdၺග੭ᕐ↋f੽ࣲ̒Їɽۨ
                  also distinctive for the subtle openwork and carved designs of its   ೥ࣩd޴ᗳ̻᎘אᔔ᎘ࣩڗܓʔɓdϾ͉ۜˉʂ਋ɽdˈ֝቗ண
                  spandrels. Tables of this type with cloud-shaped spandrels and   ॷ຿ڗ՜fਞԈɤʬ˰ߏ͋Їɤɖ˰ߏڋ˝Սوΐɾෂ‘€Ԉ
                  double stretchers were produced with raised or straight ends, and   ᄎݒݡd׼όරڀૣ࢕Ո:  ࣝν֢ᔛۜ፯‘d࠰ಥd2016ϋd
                  of varying lengths from small side tables to sizable ones with ample   ࠫ148dౢྡʕɾ˴๟௪׵޴ڐࣲࣩɪࣣ೥f
                  surfaces for painting and viewing handscrolls. The present example
                  is among the larger versions that would have been ideal for unrolling   ਞϽՇੵˉʂ೹ʃʘࣲࣩdѩ੭ʔΝථҖீᎉ˫᎘fՉɓԷ᙮ࣝ
                  long pieces of paper or silk. An illustration from a woodblock printed   ν֢הႅ€194ʮʱdۃࠑ̈ஈdᇜ໮31i̤ɓԷd஗ᓥᗳމ
                  edition of Lie Nü Zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Women) from   ৢࣩ€110ʮʱd̏ԯ೷˝࢕Ոᅀᔛd፽׵ˮ˰ᑳd׼ό࢕
                  the late 16th/early 17th centuries (illustrated in Chu-pak Lau, Classical   Ոޜሧ‘dࡐ౱d1986ϋdྡو78f
                  Chinese Huanghuali Furniture from the Haven Collection, Hong
                  Kong, 2016, p. 148) shows how a deeper table of this type was used   ˢ༰ɓੵˉʂ༰ɽʘࣩdΝၢථҖ˫᎘dۍ˶ீᎉd૶ࢗᔚᔛd
                  by a lady, served by three attendants, who is about to start writing or   ତ̏ԯ݂ࢗ௹ي৫ႅd༱׵݂ࢗ௹ي৫ᔛ˖يޜۜΌණg׼૶
                  painting on a scroll.                           ࢕Ո€ɪ‘d࠰ಥd2002ϋdྡو109iʿၪεлԭၾЎဧЬ
                                                                  त௹ي᎜ᔛɓ༰ʃʘࣩ€ᇜ໮W.7-1969d፽׵ݚܛࣸdʕ
                  Two shorter tables with openwork spandrels of a slightly different   ਷࢕Ո‘dࡐ౱d1988ϋdࠫ46-7dྡ30ʿ32f
                  cloud-shaped design appear to have been published. One measuring
                  194 cm in length is in the Haven Collection, ibid., cat. no. 31; the
                  other, of only 110 cm in length and classified as a wine table, is in the
                  Beijing Hardwood Furniture Factory Collection, illustrated in Wang
                  Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties,
                  London, 1986, pl. 78.
                  For  tables  with the  more common  type  of  cloud  spandrels
                  without the openwork decoration, see a slightly longer and wider
                  table from the Qing Court collection and still preserved in the
                  Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of
                  Treasures in the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing
                  Dynasties, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 109; and a shorter table
                  in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession no. W.7-
                  1969), illustrated in Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988,
                  pp. 46-7, figs 30 and 32.























         68 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING  ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ  SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1292                                                                                                                                            THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG  I 69
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