Page 98 - Chinese Art Bonhams San Francisco December 18, 2017

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A FINE MOTHER-OF-PEARL INLAID LACQUER TABLE, It is rare to see a fine mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer table surviving from
PINGTOU’AN the seventeenth century like the present example. The simple elegance
17th century and pleasing outline of the table carry the distinctive characteristics
The rectangular top panel with subtle ‘ice-plate’ edge set above an of admired Ming furniture, often found being made from richly-figured
apron with U-shaped spandrels, fitted into slightly splayed, cylindrical tropical wood like huanghuali, tieli, xiangnan, etc.
supports above gracefully arched rounded stretchers on the longer
sides, further secured by twin oval-shaped stretchers on the shorter Archaeological findings indicate that the technique of inlaying mother-
sides, the corners of the top panel and the bases of the supports of-pearl on lacquer was practiced as early as the Shang dynasty.
mounted with brass caps; finely inlaid with mother-of-pearl on the Lacquered furniture with mother-of-pearl inlay decoration appears
black lacquer ground, the top exhibiting a rectangular reserve, with two to have been among the luxurious types of furniture during the
poetic couplets flanking a central lush peony plant issuing from rocks Ming dynasty, as evidenced by some of the descriptions in Chinese
between elegant blooming branches, amidst carefully rendered birds literature, pictorial illustrations, and contemporary paintings. The
and insects, all framed within a broad band filled with scholar’s objects, Golden Lotus, a sixteenth century novel by an anonymous author
auspicious elements, music instruments, and additional blossoms, includes vivid descriptions of interior settings. Mother-of-pearl inlaid
the sides decorated with delicate foliate sprays and formalized cloud lacquer furniture is mentioned a number of times in the novel (e.g.
pattern. Chapter 30). Refer also to a Ming dynasty painting titled ‘Scooping
16 1/2 x 51 1/4 x 31 1/2in (42 x 127.5 x 80cm) the Moon from a Golden Basin’ in the Shanghai Museum, in which a
servant is seen standing in front of a black lacquered long table with
$6,000 - 8,000 mother-of-pearl inlays. The appearance of a lacquered and mother-
of-pear inlaid censer stand in a Ming dynasty portrait of a court lady
also indicates the popularity of this type of furniture in a luxurious court
The couplet on the right side can be translated as: setting (Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty,
The blossoms swaying gently in the breeze Li He and Michael Knight, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2008,
The red petals in the rain, resembling thin silk p. 251, no. 140; and p. 261, no. 148)

The couplet on the left side can be translated as: Furniture made during the early Qing dynasty closely followed the Ming
The beauty of the color and texture of the mother-of-pearl style. Refer to a table of comparable form, attributed to the Kangxi
[are] as refined as [what is] used for the birthday cup for the Emperor Yao period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong,
2002, plate 143.

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