Page 286 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong April 2, 2019 Sotheby's

3692

PROPERTY FROM THE MUYUTANG COLLECTION 明末至清初 黃花梨獨板面翹頭案
A LONG HUANGHUALI TABLE, QIAOTOUAN
LATE MING – EARLY QING DYNASTY 來源：
黑洪祿，香港
the top of a single-board floating panel tongue-and-grooved
to the frame with shaped everted flanges, the edge of the
frame gently moulding downward, above a beaded apron
with carved archaistic dragons, raised on round legs joined
by double stretchers
84.5 by 156 by 40.5 cm, 33¼ by 61⅜ by 15⅞ in.

PROVENANCE
Hei Hung-Lu, Hong Kong.
◉ HK$ 1,200,000-1,500,000
US$ 153,000-192,000

One of the most enduring and successful design in classical
Chinese furniture, qiaotouan are celebrated for their elegant
and yet sturdy form. While the table top of the present piece
was made from a single plank of huanghuali, a sense of
lightness is captured through the sinuous movements of the
dragons on the aprons, and the upturned ends. The latter
heighten its presence, while also serving the function of
concealing the end grains of the top plank.
Tables of this design derive from altar tables, zu, that were
used to hold meat offerings from as early as the Eastern
Zhou dynasty (771-256 BC). Rectangular tables with
upturned ends are depicted on archaic bronze yi vessels
from this period, and a low lacquered table with upturned
flanges, unearthed from a tomb in Zhaoxiang, Hubei
province, and attributed to the Spring and Autumn period
(722-481 BC), is illustrated in Sarah Handler, ‘Side Tables.
A Surface for Treasures and the Gods’, Chinese Furniture.
Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong,
1999, p. 200.
A table of similar proportions but lacking the carved dragons
on the aprons, was sold in our New York rooms, 9th-10th
October 1987, lot 454; and another from the collection
of Philip Wood, was sold at Christie’s New York, 15th
September 2011, lot 1333.