A Large Huanghuali Solid Top Altar Table, Qiaotouan 17th/18th Century

the beaded thick solid top panel with everted flanges, above a straight apron and cusped spandrels carved with notched square scrolls and archaistic dragons, each end with square section legs with out-turned feet joined by a pair of cross braces and flanking an openwork panel of a qilin and a chilong amidst rockwork and ruyi-shaped clouds, the lower brace with a cusped apron

Purchased from Hei Hung-Lu, Hong Kong, late 1980s/early 1990s.

This large solid top table is in very good condition with the exception of possibly replaced central sections of the apron on both long sides, shallow chips to the edge of the top (1.5, 2, 2 and 8cm., long), small patches to the ends of the side spandrels and one patch to the front corner of one everted end, replaced drawers and minor surface scratches and typical wear commensurate with age.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The use of the treasured huanghuali wood and confidently carved motifs on the spandrels and side panels, make this table special and rare. Furniture of such high quality was created in the workshops of either Suzhou or Beijing. Hu Desheng in A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Beijing, 2008, vol. 1, pp. 38-40, discusses the Suzhou style (Sushi) and the Beijing style (Jingshi), noting that the former was renowned for its beautiful forms, elegant lines, lucid construction, balanced proportions and intricate decoration, while the latter was made mainly by artisans from Guangzhou working in the capital.

Such long rectangular tables modelled with recessed legs were commonly placed against a wall in the main hall of family compounds where important male visitors were received and family ceremonies took place; hence they became representative of their owner’s status and level of refinement. In the Ming dynasty, the scholar Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645) in his Zhangwu zhi jiaozhu [Treaties on superfluous things], refers to them as bi zhuo [wall table] and notes that in elegant examples ‘the end flanges must not be too sharp, but smooth and rounded which is the antique pattern’ (see Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 54).

This design, known in Chinese as qiaotouan, derives from altar tables, zu, that were used to hold meat offerings in the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771-256 BC). Rectangular tables with upturned ends are depicted on archaic bronze yi vessels from this period, and a low lacquered table with upturned flanges, unearthed from a tomb in Zhaoxiang, Hubei province, and attributed to the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BC), is illustrated in Sarah Handler, ‘Side Tables. A Surface for Treasures and the Gods’, Chinese Furniture. Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 200. By the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) tables of this type were used for a variety of purposes, as attested by contemporary paintings and woodblock illustrations. In an album leaf by Zhang Hong’s (1577-after 1652), Examining Antiques, a qiaotouan is used for painting and the display of treasured antiques, while a woodblock illustration from the Chongzhen (1628-1644) edition of the novel Jin Ping Mei [The plum in the golden vase], depicts incense garnitures on a table of this type (ibid., figs 14 and 6).

A very similar side table with recessed legs, splayed foot and similarly carved spandrels, from the Florence and Herbert Irving collection and now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkley, 2001, pl. 14.16, together with a larger example, pl. 14.17; one was sold in these rooms, 30^th October 1987, lot 103; another was sold in our New York rooms, 18^th/19^th April 1989, lot 528; and a larger example made of tieli wood, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, op. cit., pl. 306. Tables of this type are also known with straight feet, such as one sold in our New York rooms, 18^th/19^th April 1989, lot 485. See also a huanghuali table attributed to the 17^th century, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, illustrated in Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1996, pl. 56.

 Huanghuali is amongst the most valued hardwood in China, appreciated for its vibrant colour, impressive grain pattern and light sweet fragrance. During the Ming and Qing dynasties it was used for making high quality furniture and craftsmen took full advantage of its distinct qualities to create smooth and plain surfaces that retained much of the material’s natural beauty. The highest quality huanghuali, also known by its Chinese botanical name Hainan jiangxiang huangtan, comes from Hainan and is known for its wide range of colouration from light yellow to purplish-red. By the Qing dynasty, huanghuali became especially treasured by the imperial court and was frequently used for the production of imperial furniture.