Page 82 - Christie's Fine Chiense Works of Art November 2018 London

n D~48
A RARE HUANGHUALI RECESSED-LEG PAINTING TABLE,
HUA’AN
MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY
The single-panel top is set within the wide rectangular frame, above elegant
plain aprons and spandrels, all raised on legs of round section which are joined
by pairs of stretchers.
33¿ in. x 68æ in. wide x 22¬ in. deep. (84 x 174.6 x x 57.5 cm.)
£100,000-200,000 $140,000-260,000
€120,000-220,000

PROVENANCE
With Grace Wu Bruce.
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection.
Large tables are often erroneously labelled painting tables, but to be
considered a true painting table, such as the present table, the surface must
be broad enough to accommodate a large painting and the accoutrements
associated with painting or calligraphy (ink, ink stones, brushes, and washers,
etc.). Tables of this large size would also be ideal for the appreciation of a
painting.

Tables of this elegant and restrained form, with the graceful splay of the
legs, trace their origins to furniture design of the Song dynasty, and several
variations on this type are known. The spare, economic lines of this design
make it one of the classic forms found in Chinese furniture construction.
The basic proportions were adapted to make large painting tables, smaller
tables, benches and stools. This form is referred to in the Classic of Lu Ban as
a ‘character one’ table, due to its similarity in profle to the single horizontal
stroke of the Chinese character for ‘one’.

A huanghuali recessed-leg table of similar proportions is published by G.
Ecke in Chinese Domestic Furniture, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962, p. 46, pl.
36. See also, a slightly larger huanghuali painting table (195.5 cm.), sold at
Christie’s New York, 18 March 2015, lot 122, and formerly in the Robert H.
Ellsworth collection.
明十七世紀 黃花梨畫案

來源: 購自嘉木堂; 重要西方私人珍藏