Page 131 - Christie's Chinese Works of Art March 24 and 25th, 2022 NYC

The present table is distinguished by the massive length and thickness of rare massive tielimu table, measuring 343.5 cm. in length, also in the Palace
the solid huanghuali plank top, measuring over 2 inches (5.08 cm.) thick. Museum, Beijing, carved with similar stylized elephants on the spandrels is
It is evident that the furniture maker not only had the economic resources illustrated in ibid. p. 166-67, pl. 141, and bears a date corresponding to 1640.
for such an extravagant use of material, but also had access to the highest
quality material. The plank possesses an attractive grain that is vigorous This form is known as a qiaotou'an, or 'everted end recessed-leg table,'
and active and displays a depth of color and life that can sometimes although the late Ming style-maker Wen Zhenheng termed it bizhuo, or 'wall
be lacking in massive furniture, which can prize size over material. It is table,' as it was commonly used against a wall to display works of art or to
unusual, to find an example of large-scale furniture that prizes both size hold offerings. Tables of the present type tend to feature long, single-plank
and material equally. To imagine the girth and age of the tree from which tops and thick members. Such tables also feature aprons with integral
this plank was hewn is staggering. spandrels which are joined by dovetail-housing to the trestle legs, providing
added structural support. There appear to be two types of recessed
Of the published examples of massive huanghuali trestle-leg tables, there are trestle-leg tables. The first type exhibits straight legs, which are set into
few examples larger than the present table. Two huanghuali trestle-leg tables shoe feet. The second variant, which includes the current table, has everted
both in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection feet. Notable huanghuali trestle-leg tables can be seen in several public
of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties collections, including two examples smaller than the present table in the
(53), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 146, pl. 126 and p. 160, pl. 137, are longer than the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, measuring
present table, measuring 402 cm. and 359 cm. in length, respectively. A 285.8 cm. and 226.5 cm. in length, respectively.

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