Page 117 - Christies March 16, 2017 The Varata Collection NYC

Large single panel huanghuali painting tables, such as the present example, Fig. 1. A huanghuali painting table. Courtesy of Hei Hung Lu.
are extremely rare. It is even rarer to fnd the unusual feature of the decorated （圖1）黃花梨畫案。圖片提供：黑洪祿
apron framed by pairs of stretchers on the narrow side. A large painting table of
slightly smaller proportions (77 ¡ in. wide) with openwork panels between pairs
of stretchers is illustrated by Robert Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood
Examples of the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1970, p. 155, pl. 51, 51a and
51b (fg. 1). The table published by Ellsworth does not have the fnely raised beading
on the aprons and spandrels which further distinguish the present example. A
smaller painting table with square section legs and stretchers, and also with a
beaded openwork panels between pairs of stretchers is illustrated in Grace Wu
Bruce, Sublime and Divine, China, 2015, p. 50-2.

According to Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Ming
and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. I, Chicago, p. 68, “Beijing cabinet-makers classify
tables that are 76 cm or more in [depth] as painting tables and tables that are
smaller as long narrow tables. Tables less than 76 cm [deep] cannot comfortably
accommodate silk or paper sheets for painting.” Any table with proportions of width
to depth comparable to the present table should be considered a painting table.
A true painting table, the surface must be broad enough to accommodate a large
painting and the accoutrements associated with painting or calligraphy, such as ink,
ink stones, brushes, and washers, such as illustrated by a Ming dynasty woodblock
print from Xi Xiang Ji (fg. 2). Tables of this large size would also be ideal for the
appreciation of a painting.

如本拍品之獨板黃花梨大畫案十分珍罕。其雙棖間夾置縧環板挖魚門洞之做法更
不多見。安思遠舊藏一尺寸稍小之大畫案（寬77 ¡英吋）亦在兩橫棖間安鏤雕縧
環板，見安思遠《中國家具：明清硬木實例》(Chinese Furniture: Hardwood
Examples of the Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties)， 紐約，1970年，155頁，
圖版編號51，51a及51b (圖1)。安氏著錄一例之牙條及牙頭無起陽綫，使本拍
品顯得更加出色。另有一尺寸較小畫案，腿及橫棖均為方材，亦於兩橫棖間安鏤
雕縧環板，見伍嘉恩，《器美神完 : 明式家具精萃》，香港，2015年，50-52
頁。

據王世襄《明式家具研究》，卷一，芝加哥，69頁，任何桌案若是比例與本拍
品相仿即應被稱作畫案。北京製櫃匠稱深度大或等於76公分之案爲畫案，若不
及則為條案。深度不及76公分之案無法安置書畫用絹或畫紙。名副其實的畫案
寬度至少需放得下一張大型畫作以及書畫用具，諸如墨﹑硯﹑筆及筆洗等，正如
明木版畫西廂記中所描繪一般（圖2）。以如此大型尺寸之案賞畫亦頗爲理想。

Fig. 2. Woodblock print from Xi Xiang Ji (Tale of the Western
Chamber), Ming dynasty

（圖2）明代西廂記木版畫

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