Page 115 - March 23, 2022 Sotheby's NYC Fine Chinese Works of Art

374

PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
A ‘HUANGHUALI’ RECESSED-LEG TABLE
(PINGTOUAN)
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Height 32¼ in., 81.9 cm; Width 63½ in., 161.3 cm; Depth 14⅞
in., 37.8 cm

PROVENANCE
Collection of Oliver Edmund Clubb (1901-1989) and Mariann
Clubb, acquired in Beijing in the late 1940s, and thence by
descent.
The simple, elegant, and highly functional design of the
present table is derived from standard wood building
construction in use since the Han dynasty. Examples of this
type, known as the ‘standard table’, date to as early as the
Song dynasty. It is also referred to as a ‘character one table
type’ (yi zi zhou shi) as the single horizontal stroke of the
Chinese character for the numeral ‘one’ bears resemblance
to the clean, angular lines of the table. This descriptive term
is taken from the Wanli period edition of the Lu Ban jing jiang
jia jing (The Classic of Lu Ban and the Craftsman’s Mirror).
Produced in varying sizes, the present table exemplifies a
type of modest dimensions, readily portable and eminently
useful. Compare similar examples in the collection of
the Central Academy of Arts & Crafts, Beijing, illustrated
in Chen Zengbi, Zhongyang Gongyi Meishu Xueyuan
Yuancang: Zhenpin Tulu [Central Academy of Arts and
Crafts: Illustrations of collections], vol. 2, Mingshi Jiaju
[Ming Furniture], Hong Kong, 1994, p. 46. See also another
similar example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
illustrated in Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988,
p. 46. A table of the same form and similar dimensions was
sold in these rooms, 20th March 2019, lot 698.
Oliver Edmund Clubb (1901-1989), born in South Park,
Minnesota, was a 20th century American diplomat and
historian, and was considered one of the ‘China Hands’. He
was stationed in Beijing and served as the Consul General in
1949 and left the city in the following year.

◉ $ 50,000-70,000

清十八世紀 黃花梨夾頭榫平頭案
來源
柯樂博 (1901-1989) 伉儷收藏，1940年代末得於北
京，此後家族傳承

226 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10917 227