Page 282 - Bonhams Cornette Saint Cyr, Property from the estate of Jean-Pierre Rousset (1936-2021)

237 Y
RARE TABLE EN HUANGHUALI, QIAOTOUAN
XVIIe/XVIIIe siècle
A FINE AND RARE HUANGHUALI RECESSED-LEG TABLE,
QIAOTOUAN
17th/18th century
The table defined by a rectangular top terminating in everted flanges
on the shorter ends, supported on a frame formed by the long
beaded-edge apron decorated with ruyi spandrels, the rectangular
legs housing the long aprons decorated with interlocking geometric
designs, the legs and feet framing an inset reticulated panel carved
with a cusped cartouche decorated with designs of sinuous chilong
writhing amidst vaporous clouds.
178cm (70in) long x 83cm (32 5/8in) high x 40.5cm (15 7/8in) deep.
€50,000 - 80,000

Provenance:
Jean-Pierre Rousset, Paris (1936-2021), acquired in the 1980’s
In Chinese households of the late Ming and Qing dynasties, tables
of such impressive proportions with upturned ends demonstrated
the high status and wealth of their owners. Tables of this type are
discussed in Wen Zhenheng’s (1585-1645) influential Treatise on
Superfluous Things (Zhang wu zhi), the late 17th century guide to
refined taste. In his treatise Wen recommended that such tables were
placed underneath a painting and even suggested that ‘one may
place such things as fantastic rocks, seasonal flowers, or miniature
tray-landscapes; but avoid garish objects such as red lacquerware’.
Although Wen warned against the use of excessive carving, the lively
openwork panels on this table are balanced by the simplicity of the
apron and spandrels.

See a closely related huanghuali side-table, late 16th/early 17th
century (188cm long), illustrated by G.Wu Bruce, The Dr. S.Y. Yip
Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, pp.74-75,
no.25. Compare also a huanghuali altar table of larger proportions
and with more exuberantly carved spandrels, from the Florence and
Herbert Irving collection, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
and see also a much larger example in the Minneapolis Institute of
Art, illustrated by S.Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical
Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, pp.237-238, pls.14.16 and 14.17.

See a related but smaller huanghuali recessed-leg altar table, 18th
century, which was sold at at Sotheby’s London, 8 November 2017, lot
98. See also a related larger huanghuali altar table, circa 17th century,
formerly with Compagnie de la Chine et des Indes, Paris, which was
sold at Christie’s Paris, 12 December 2019, lot 32.

280 | BONHAMS