Page 138 - Bonhams Chinese Art NYC Nov 9 2017

A similar painting table illustrated in the Kangxi period Chengxuantang
block print edition of Shengyu xiangjie

Painting tables are rare surviving examples of Ming dynasty furniture.
The present table’s classical recessed-leg form unmarred with
decoration reflects the pure and refined aesthetics of the Ming dynasty.
According to the Ming period carpenters’ manual, the Lu Ban jing (
魯班經), this type of table was called a ‘character one’ table (yi zi an
一字案). The Chinese character for ‘one’ (yi 一), which is written as
a single horizontal stroke, succinctly described the elegant form of
this rectangular table. Today, they are sometimes known as ‘painting’
tables, although such tables were used in various contexts and
ways, as can be seen in Ming woodblock illustrations. For a further
discussion on this type of table, see C.Clunas, Chinese Furniture,
London, 1997, pp.45-47.

Compare a very similar but larger huanghuali painting table, illustrated
by Gustav Ecke,Chinese Domestic Furniture, Beijing, 1944 no.36,
pl.46; see also a similar huanghuali painting table, 16th/17th century,
illustrated in Splendor of Style: Classical Furniture from the Ming and
Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, p.143; another similar table, late Ming
dynasty, circa 1600 – 1650, is illustrated in R.H.Ellsworth, et al, Chinese
Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung
Collection, New York, 1996, pp.164-165, no.61; a further example from
an American collection, but larger, is illustrated in Grace Wu Bruce, Two
Decades of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2011, p.53 (top).

Three similar but larger huanghuali painting tables, late Ming dynasty,
were sold respectively at Christie’s New York, 18 March 2015, lot 122,
Sotheby’s London, 11 November 2015, lot 14, and Sotheby’s Hong
Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 113.

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