Page 31 - Christies Fine Chinese Works of Art March 2016 New York

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A PAIR OF RARE HUANGHUALI RECTANGULAR SIDE TABLES,
BANZHUO
17TH-18TH CENTURY

Each table has a single foating panel set in a rectangular frame with
double-reeded aprons wrapping completely around the exterior to
simulate bamboo. The wraparound stretchers are joined by pairs of
interlocked-ring struts. The whole is raised on thick legs of round
section.

35 in. (88.9 cm.) high, 43Ω in. (110.4 cm.) wide, (2)
30Ω in. (77.5 cm.) deep

$600,000-800,000

PROVENANCE

Grace Wu Bruce, Co. Ltd, Hong Kong and London.
Glen Alpine Collection, South Africa.
Eskenazi Ltd., London.

EXHIBITED

Eskenazi, London, Chinese huanghuali furniture from a private collection, 3 -
25 November 2011, no. 14.

The present pair of tables appears to be a very rare example of banzhou (half-
tables) surviving as a pair.

The fush-corner-leg design allows the tables to easily ft together to form
a square table, enabling a great deal of fexibility in their use. They could
be separated and used either as side tables throughout the home, or
put together to form a square table of the same proportions as an ‘Eight
Immortals’ table. The majority of Chinese furniture was not intended to
be static in the home, and many of the classic forms were designed with
versatility and the practicality of moving them around the home in mind.

As noted by Wang Shixiang in, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol.
I, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 54-55, banzhuo literally means “half table” and is
so-called for its size, which is approximately half that of the ‘eight immortals
table’. Wang also goes on to explain that the banzhuo was mainly used for
serving wine and food, and was gradually replaced by the circular table
during the mid-Qing period. The banzhuo has sometimes also been referred
to as a jiezhuo, literally meaning extension table. The name (extension table)
comes from the practice of using these tables to augment the size of the
largest square table known as the ‘eight immortals table’ or baxianzhuo.

Interestingly, another identical pair of banzhuo of bamboo-form design, is
illustrated by G. Wu Bruce, Living with Ming - the Lu Ming Shi Collection,
Hong Kong, 2000, p. 119, no. 27, suggesting that they may even have formed
a set of four.

明末/清十八世紀 黃花梨半桌一對

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