A FINE AND RARE HUANGHUALI RECESSED-LEG TABLE, QIAOTOUAN
17th/18th centuryThe table defined by a single plank top panel terminating in everted flanges, fitted to the legs and spandrels using the traditional bridle joint, supported on slightly-flared legs, joined by a recessed panel carved with openwork designs of entwined chilong. 100cm (39 3/8in) wide x 90cm (35 1/2in) high x 36cm (14 1/8in) deep.
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十七/十八世紀 黃花梨翹頭案Provenance: Grace Wu Bruce, Hong KongThe Feng Wen Tang collection, Hong KongChristie's Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 2835An important European private collection來源:香港古董商嘉木堂香港奉文堂舊藏香港佳士得,2015年6月3日,拍品編號2835歐洲重要私人收藏The present table is notable for the attractive grain and rich honey colour of its prized huanghuali wood, the intricately-reticulated side panels, and the shaped spandrels which are joined in tongue-grooved fashion to the trestle legs, providing additional structural support.Long narrow rectangular tables with upturned flanges were popular in wealthy households during the Ming and Qing dynasty, demonstrating the high status of their owners. They are discussed in Wen Zhenheng's (1585-1645) influential 'Treatise on Superfluous Things' Zhang wu zhi, a 17th century guide to refined taste. In this work, Wen mentions that such tables were placed against a wall and underneath a painting, holding seasonal flowers, scholar's rocks or miniature tray-landscapes. Although Wen warned against the use of excessive carving, the lively openwork panels depicting entwined chilong on the present table balance the simplicity of the apron and spandrels.According to Sarah Handler, the design for this type of rectangular table derives from altar tables made from as early as the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771-256 BC). These early tables featured upturned ends and are depicted on archaic bronzes from this period, such as a bronze yi vessel dated to the Eastern Zhou period, illustrated by M.Fong, 'The Origin of Chinese Pictorial Representation of the Human Figure', Artibus Asiae, 1988, vol.49, fig.4, p.22. The use of upturned flanges, however, appears to have disappeared prior to the Ming period, when these long rectangular tables gained popularity. The flanges served as a reference to China's illustrious past, which enhances the table's commanding presence within the rooms; see S.Handler, 'Side Tables, a Surface for Treasures and the Gods', in Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, pp.200-209. The carved designs on this table display bold vigour and freedom. Compare the combination of interlocking angular scrolls on the shaped spandrels and the unusual depiction of a male, female and young chilong as seen on a related but larger qiaotouan table, Ming/Qing dynasty, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated by S.Handler, The Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Los Angeles and London, 2001, p.237, fig.14:16. See also a related huanghuali table, Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 2002, pp.156-157, no.136. A further example, Ming dynasty, is illustrated by G.Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962, pl.82. A related but larger huanghuali recessed-leg table, qiaotouan, 17th/18th century, was sold at Sotheby's London, 11 November 2015, lot 8.獨板案面翹頭,連牙條與腿夾頭榫結構,面下直牙,牙條與牙頭一木連做,沿口起陽線,花牙頭雕雲雷紋,銜接牙堵成環匝,直腿微微外撇,腿間管腳棖下鑲壺門形縧環板,內透雕螭龍紋,底棖下裝平素牙子,香爐式足。案面兩端帶有高起的翹頭,稱之為翹頭案。此類帶托泥、側鑲擋板的條案皆屬《長物誌》之「飛角平圓」的「天然几」;常見於明清大戶門第中,無論置於廳堂、兩廂乃至書齋,或陳設珍玩彝器,或書寫作畫,或如明文震亨於《長物誌》中所描繪的「置奇石,或時花盆景之屬」,用途不一。據Sarah Handler所稱,此種兩端高起的矩形桌案的原型最早可追溯至東周時期的供桌,可見於東周匜上紋飾,參考M.Fong著〈The Origin of Chinese Pictorial Representation of the Human Figure〉,收錄於《Artibus Asiae》,1988年,第49期,頁22,圖4。明以後,條案大量流行,翹頭的設計既有實用價值,增大了桌案在一室空間內的存在體量,又呼應了古代傳統,見S.Handler著,〈Side Tables , a Surface for Treasures and the Gods〉,收錄於《Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, 1984-1999》,香港,1999年,頁200-209。本例擋板精雕細琢,線條旋回流暢,刀法圓熟自如。紐約大都會博物館館藏一件明至清翹頭案,較本例尺寸稍大,同樣雕飾子母螭龍紋,可資比對;收錄於S.Handler著,《Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture》,柏克萊,2001年,頁237,圖版14.16。另比較清宮舊藏一件明黃花梨翹頭案,見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大係明清家具》,香港,2002年,頁156-157,編號136;以及一件明翹頭案,見艾克著,《Chinese Domestic Furniture》,拉特蘭、佛蒙特及東京,1962年,圖版82。一件十七至十八世紀黃花梨翹頭案,較本例稍大,售於倫敦蘇富比,2015年11月11日,拍品編號8。
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