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Small pingtouan table with a shelf, Huanghuali wood and green stone Late Ming (1573–1644)
Estimate
3,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD
bidding is closed
Description
The top of standard mitre, mortise, and tenon construction with a beautifully figured green stone top supported by two transverse stretchers underneath. The edge of the mitred frame is gently moulded and ends in a beaded edge. The splayed round legs are cut to house the shaped, spandrelled apron and are double tenoned into the top. Below is a shelf, tongue-and-grooved into the frame which is mitred, mortised, and tenoned into the legs.
Exhibited
Hong Kong, 1991, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, “The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture”
Singapore, 1997 – 1999, Asian Civilisations Museum, “The Chinese Collection”
London, 1999, Institute of Contemporary Art, “Grace Wu Bruce presents Ming Furniture from the Collection of Dr. S. Y. Yip”
Hong Kong, 2012, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, “Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr S Y Yip collections”
Singapore, 1997 – 1999, Asian Civilisations Museum, “The Chinese Collection”
London, 1999, Institute of Contemporary Art, “Grace Wu Bruce presents Ming Furniture from the Collection of Dr. S. Y. Yip”
Hong Kong, 2012, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, “Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr S Y Yip collections”
Literature
Grace Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, pp. 56 – 57
Grace Wu Bruce, Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr S Y Yip collections, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 24 – 25
Grace Wu Bruce, Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr S Y Yip collections, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 24 – 25
Catalogue Note
Similar examples:
Wang Shixiang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, pp. 96 – 97, for a similar example with huanghuali wood top
Grace Wu Bruce, Ming furniture in the Forbidden City, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 86 – 87, for another similar example also with huanghuali wood top.
Wang Shixiang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, pp. 96 – 97, for a similar example with huanghuali wood top
Grace Wu Bruce, Ming furniture in the Forbidden City, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 86 – 87, for another similar example also with huanghuali wood top.
Various stones, especially Dali marble were favoured as table tops in Song times, as evidenced by their frequent depiction in scholarly gatherings in Song paintings, e.g. the Eighteen Scholars in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Surviving examples of Ming furniture with stone panels are rare. However, the side tables with inset stone panels excavated from the tomb of Prince Zhu Tan (1370 - 1389) in Shandong wood seem to indicate that stone panels as table tops were popular in Ming furniture manufacture.
This type of table is a standard Ming design that has evolved from the classic pingtouan table.