Page 232 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

ANOTHER PROPERTY
~1242
A HUANGHUALI RECESSED-LEG TABLE, PINGTOU’AN
17TH-18TH CENTURY
The single-panel top with rounded corners is set within a rectangular frame with molded edge, above a
plain, beaded apron and cloud-shaped spandrels with hidden mortise and tenon joining them into the
mitered frame of the top. The whole is raised on four gently splayed legs of round section joined by a pair
of stretchers decorated with further cloud-shaped spandrels.
32Ω in. (82.4 cm.) high, 42æ in. (108.5 cm.) wide, 14¬ in. (37 cm.) deep
$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE
James Biddle (1929-2005) Collection, Washington D.C.
LITERATURE
R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties,
New York, 1971, p. 171, nos. 70 and 70a.
Recessed-leg tables of this type were produced with either straight or raised ends and of varying
lengths, which makes them highly versatile. Its form also represents one of the most successful designs
in classical Chinese furniture, with their visually pleasing proportions achieved through simple and clean
structure further enhanced by elegantly carved cloud-shaped spandrels. It is noteworthy that the master
craftsman who created this table paid enormous attention to small details in that all of the tenons in
both the long and short sides are hidden, and most unusually, the framing rails and transverse stretchers
of the underside are fnished with beaded edges.
十七/十八世紀 黃花梨如意雲夾頭榫平頭案

The present table as published by Robert Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties,
New York, 1971, p. 171, nos. 70 and 70a. Courtesy of Hei Hung Lu.

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