Page 183 - Christies March 16, 2017 The Varata Collection NYC

~650 明十六/十七世紀 黃花梨小炕桌

AN IMPORTANT SMALL HUANGHUALI 來源
RECTANGULAR KANG TABLE, KANGZHUO 嘉木堂，香港
瑪麗·泰瑞莎·L·維勒泰 (1923-2015) 珍藏
16TH-17TH CENTURY
The paneled top is set in a rectangular frame fnely carved with a ‘water stopping’ 文獻
edge, above a narrow waist and shaped, beaded aprons centered by a carved lotus. 伍嘉恩，《明式家具二十年經眼錄》，北京，2010年，83頁
The whole is raised on short, elegant cabriole legs terminating in upturned foliate
scrolls raised on small ball feet. 此桌應多半為置于一大桌上作爲香爐之座，使其高度等同於香爐置於香几之上，
例如是次拍賣的得桑托斯（de Santos）香几。此小桌品質上乘，殊爲難得。
8Ω in. (21.5 cm.) high, 17Ω in. (44.5 cm.) wide, 12º in. (31.1 cm.) deep
本拍品形制如同袖珍炕桌，牙條上刻花葉紋，S型三彎腿足端飾花葉卷珠並再翻
$60,000-80,000 出葉片及膝。如此桌之腿足樣式可見於其他炕桌，香几，或供桌。北京故宮藏一
例炕桌（見《明清家具（上）-故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集》，2002年，編號
PROVENANCE 150），其壺門式牙及桌腿内側鎪出花牙及下踩承珠與本拍品構思一致，惟其牙
條與腿相接處並未使用抱肩榫連接，與其他目前所知之炕桌不同。兩依藏一例黃
Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong. 花梨折疊炕桌亦有花葉紋卷珠腿足，惟其承珠實為刻有如意紋之蓮葉形基墊，而
The Marie Theresa L. Virata (1923-2015) Collection. 非扁珠狀。整體上來說本拍品與Charlotte Horstmann故藏，現藏於納爾遜美術
館（館藏編號F72-52）之炕桌相似,霍氏舊藏著錄於安思遠《中國家具：明清硬
LITERATURE 木實例》(Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early
Ch’ing Dynasties)，紐約，1970年，編號45，但本拍品應其尺寸較小之故，
Grace Wu Bruce, Two Decades of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2010, p. 83. 整體感覺既生動活潑又穩重許多。

The present small table is of exceptional quality and was probably made to support
an incense burner. Once placed upon a larger table, the incense table would
measure the same height as a standard incense stand, such as the circular ‘de
Santos’ tripod incense stand from the present sale.

In the form of a miniature kang table, the design of the table fows from the deeply
scrolled apron to the exaggerated S-curved cabriole legs with an upturned leaf
enclosing a ball and further carved with a curled leaf above. Elements of this small
‘incense table’ can be found on both kang tables and incense stands or true altar
tables. A kang table in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Furniture of the
Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol. I, Beijing, p. 177, no. 150, has the same fowing outline
of the apron with its raised beaded edge and incurving C-scroll where the apron
joins the leg. The Palace Museum example is unusual for the square joint at the
legs, instead of the more commonly seen mitred joints. A folding kang table in the
Liang Yi Collection with square lotus-shaped pads carved with ruyi, has the same
leaf-embracing ball motif of the present table. The present table is probably most
similar to a kang table, formerly in the Charlotte Horstmann Collection and now in
the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, illustrated by Robert Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture:
Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. no.
45, however, the carving is more vigorous and assured, especially when considering
its smaller scale.