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Elegantly modelled to resemble two adjoining leaves, this exceptional After the Yongzheng emperor’s disputed ascent to the throne, he
table is a rare example of remarkable furniture that was likely to have seemed to have had a particular fondness for the physical as well as
been manufactured during the reign of the Yongzheng emperor. symbolic appearance of auspicious clouds. Scenes of auspicious five-
However, the Imperial demand for lacquered furniture continued on coloured clouds appearing above the sky were recorded several times
into the Qianlong period. in the Palace memorials presented to the emperor and legitimised his
rule. The Imperial archives also recorded that paintings depicting such
The wispy lingzhi-shaped clouds, decorating the surface of the table, particular type of clouds were ordered by the Yongzheng emperor in
were very popular during the Yongzheng period. Clouds, yun (雲), form 1730, see Lin Lina, ‘Auspicious symbols and scenes of the Yongzheng
a visual pun on the word ‘yun’ (運), meaning ‘fortune’, ‘luck’ or ‘fate’. period’, in Feng Mingzhu, Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng
In an agricultural society, the rain-bearing clouds would have been Emperor and His Times, Taipei, 2009, pp.374–399.
perceived as a benevolent omen, for the necessary irrigation of the
crops. This would also have been read as a sign that the emperor, the A related lacquered circular table, decorated with floral scrolls,
‘Son of Heaven’, held the mandate to rule. Yongzheng, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Caihui
jiaju, Beijing, 2009, p.107, pl.67. Another table that uses bamboo to
form the decorative aprons and supports, Yongzheng period, is also
illustrated in Ibid., p.97, pl.58.
(detail)
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