A Mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer table Ming dynasty, 16th century

of rectangular shape, supported by a rectangular plinth with pierced shaped panels raised on a slightly everted apron joined by four scroll feet with floral stems, the top inlaid with a courtyard scene of scholars engaged in leisurely activities, some on horseback and seated in pavilions, others composing poetry, drinking wine, examining a scroll, playing instruments and a game of weiqi, all waited upon by their servants, encircled by a keyfret border around the edges and floral diapers to the sides, above the apron inlaid with shaped panels depicting further scholars in landscape reserved on floral latticework

Compare a similar low table in a Private Japanese Collection, included in the Tokyo National Museum exhibition, Chinese Mother-of-Pearl-Decorated Lacquer, Tokyo, 1981, cat.no. 72.