Page 124 - Christie's Chinese Works of Art March 24 and 25th, 2022 NYC

Dr. Frank E. Whitacre (1897-1971), photographer unknown. Lillian Whitacre (1907-1986), photographer unknown.
Frank E. Whitacre 醫生 (1897-1971)，攝影師不詳 Lillian Whitacre (1907-1986)，攝影師不詳

In 1938, Dr. Frank E. Whitacre (1897-1971) and his family arrived in Beijing, where he assumed the
role of Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department at Peking Union Medical College, a post
sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. His wife Lillian (1907-1986), a graduate of Oberlin College
and the University of Pittsburgh, developed an interest in Chinese furniture and works of art, and
began studying and collecting in this area.
(detail)
Two years later, with the breakout of World War II, Lillian and her two young children boarded the
Mariposa headed for San Francisco. Dr. Whitacre returned to the US at a later date. Reluctant to part
with the collection she so carefully created, Lillian persuaded the Rockefeller Foundation to transport
the pieces to the United States. The furniture, paintings, and works of art collected during the
Whitacre’s days in Beijing have resided with the family since that time.
PROPERTY FROM THE WHITACRE FAMILY COLLECTION
~1014
AN UNUSUAL HUANGHUALI ROUND LOW TABLE
18TH-19TH CENTURY
The top is set in a circular frame above a narrow waist and cusped, beaded aprons.
The whole is raised on beaded, shaped legs joined by a circular base stretcher,
further supported on small tab feet.
13 in. (33 cm.) high, 33q in. (85.1 cm.) diam.

$100,000-150,000
PROVENANCE:
The Collection of Dr. Frank E. (1897-1971) and Lillian (1907-1986) Whitacre, acquired
between 1938-1939, and thence by descent within the family.
This unusual circular table was probably used to support a large vessel or drum. A
similar circular stand supported on cabriole legs and carved with lion masks and
scrolling tendrils is illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred
Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 124-
125, no. 42. The painting Night Revels of Han Xizai by Tang Yin, dated to the Ming
dynasty, depicts Han Xizai beating on a large drum supported by a tall circular
table, similar to the present table, illustrated by L. Lin, Catalogue to the Special
Exhibition of Furniture in Paintings, The National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1996, p.
64, no. 26. (Fig. 1).

8)*5"$3&家族珍藏
清十Ջ 十̏ˠ紀ǎ黃花梨⊀८桌 Fig. 1 Tang Yin, Night Revels of Han Xizai, Ming
dynasty, hanging scroll. The Collection of
Ϝ源 National Palace Museum, Taipei.
圖ˏ 唐寅畫韓熙載૩宴圖
明代
⒤軸
臺٫४⒤故
'SBOL &
及-JMMJBO
8IJUBDSF醫生伉儷珍藏
宮博ḵ院藏
年Ն藏
後於家族ҷ承
1014
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