A CARVED ZITAN TABLE-FORM 'SHOULAO AND BOYS' MINIATURE STAND, QINGChina, 18th-19th century. The rectangular top supported on shallow legs and carved in high relief with Shoulao in the center, smiling at a recumbent deer in front of him, beside two boys carrying gigantic peaches, and a gnarled pine tree with leafy vines to his other side, all amid ruyi-shaped clouds.Provenance: From a British private collection. Old, only partly legible lacquer-inscription reading 'Chinese … £155' to bottom.Condition: Very good condition with old wear, occasional light scratches, few nicks and microscopic nibbling to edges, and tiny natural age cracks.Weight: 522.5 gDimensions: Length 27 cmThe rare and prized zitan wood was available only to the master craftsmen employed by the Woodworks (Muzuo) in the Palace Workshop. Historically, zitan was primarily grown in southern India and Southeast Asia, with a very small quantity known from the southern provinces of present-day Guangxi, Guangdong, and Jiangxi in China. Appreciated for its jade-like silky texture, fine and dense grain, and deep luster, it was the favored timber of both the Ming and Qing courts. Zitan became the Qianlong Emperor's most favored wood type and he spared no expense in acquiring it. The wood's long growth period, limited availability, and high demand primarily from the Imperial court, led to its excessive felling and eventual disappearance in China by the early 18th century. At court, zitan was predominantly used for the decoration and furnishing of the many halls and palaces of the Forbidden City. Its use was scrupulously monitored, and the emperor gave special instructions to ensure the most economical and responsible use of the palace's zitan supply to avoid any waste.Literature comparison: A related, low shaped rectangular wood stand can be found in an eighteenth-century hand scroll painted by an anonymous court master, entitled 'Pictures of Ancient Playthings', scroll 6, currently in the Percival David Foundation, London, and illustrated by E. Rawski and J. Rawson, China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2005, pp. 252-3, pl. 168. Another related example can be found in an anonymous court painting, Twelve Beauties at Leisure Painted for Prince Yinzhen, the Future Yongzheng Emperor, dating to the late Kangxi period (between 1709-1723), illustrated ibid., pp. 258-9, pl. 173.Auction result comparison: Compare with a related carved zitan xiaoji stand at Sotheby's London in Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art on 6 November 2013, lot 53, sold for GBP 10,000.清代紫檀雕壽老拜壽方座中國,十八至十九世紀。長方形底座,短腿,表面浮雕壽老拜壽圖。壽老居中,身側一隻臥著的鹿,旁邊是兩個童子,抱著幾個著碩大的桃子,而另一側則是一棵蒼松,枝葉茂密。四周圍繞著如意形的雲朵。 來源:英國私人收藏。底部舊時漆描 'Chinese … £155' 。 品相:狀況良好,有舊磨損,輕微划痕,少量划痕和微小的邊緣磕損,以及很小的自然年齡裂縫。 重量:522.5 克 尺寸:長 27厘米 拍賣結果比較:一件相近紫檀雕刻小几售于倫敦蘇富比 Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 拍場2013年11月6日, lot 53, 售價GBP 10,000。