Page 16 - Fine Chinese Ceramics Sept 2016

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF RONALD W. LONGSDORF

1205
A RARE AND SUPERB HUANGHUALI RECESSED-LEG WINE TABLE,
JIUZHUO
17TH CENTURY
The two-panel top is set within a rectangular frame with molded edge above plain aprons
and spandrels. The whole is supported on thick legs of rounded section joined by pairs of
stretchers.
32 in. (82.3 cm.) high, 39√ in. (101.3 cm.) wide, 28Ω in. (72.4 cm.) deep
$250,000-350,000

PROVENANCE

Everarts Gallery, Hong Kong.
A distinguishing and very rare feature of the present table is the huanghuali top. Due to the
heavy use of these portable, lighter weight tables, more durable materials such as stone
or less luxurious woods were often used as work surfaces. Woodblock prints depict tables
of this size and proportion used in daily activities, such as for writing, displaying objects,
and dining. See, a smaller serpentine-inlaid huanghuali wine table illustrated by Wang
Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture,
Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, pp. 94-95, no. 44. The presence of a huanghuali top
suggests the wealth and importance of the gentleman who commissioned the table.
In Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong,
1990, p. 77. no B34, Wang Shixiang illustrates a wine table of smaller proportions with
square-section, beaded legs. The author also discusses the form, and its variants, ibid.,
vol. I, pp. 54-6.
明末清初 黃花梨夾頭榫酒桌

(another view)

14