Page 24 - Fine Chinese Ceramics Sept 2016
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The recessed-leg table is among the most well-known and For a similar, slightly smaller (89 in. long) huanghuali recessed-
immediately recognizable forms found in classical Chinese leg table, see the 16th-17th century example illustrated by Wang
furniture construction. Tables of this elegant and restrained form, Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of
with the graceful splay of the legs, trace their origins to furniture Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago, 1995, p. 114, no. 54, later
design of the Song dynasty, and several variations on this type sold at Christie’s New York, 19 September 1996, lot 75. Evarts
are known. The basic proportions were adapted to make large also points out that this basic form of table has been repeatedly
painting tables, smaller tables, benches and stools. This form of depicted in paintings, as well, from as early as the Song dynasty
table is referred to in the Lu Ban Jing as a ‘Character One Table’ (960 - 1279). Other tables of this elegant form include the example
due to its similarity in profle to the single horizontal stroke of the illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: One Hundred
Chinese character for the number one. Tables of the size of the Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York,
present table are generally referred to as painting tables. 1996, pp. 164-5, no. 61, where it is dated ca. 1600-1650, and by
G. Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962,
Tables using large sections of huanghuali, such as seen here, are p. 46, pl. 36.
often considered early examples, as the precious material became
harder to acquire in subsequent years. The generous proportions 明末清初 黃花梨大畫案
are testament to the fact that the table would have been quite
expensive, even at the time of manufacture, and therefore would
have likely been in the household of a wealthy literati family.
(another view)
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