A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI RECTANGULAR CORNER-LEG TABLES, TIAOZHUO MING DYNASTY, EARLY 17TH CENTURY | 明十七世紀初 黃花梨如意角牙馬蹄足四平條桌成對

Peter Lai Antiques, Hong Kong, 10th April 1990.

黎氏古玩，香港，1990年4月10日

This elegant pair of tables exemplifies the ingenuity of Ming carpenters, who developed sophisticated joinery techniques to create tables that could support heavy loads with the minimum use of material. The restrained elegance of these tables is achieved through their simianping, or ‘four corner’s flush’, construction where the legs are set flush to the table top, and joined by carved spandrels that add stability and strength. This design, which first emerged in the Song dynasty (960-1279), was considered one of the most attractive furniture designs in the Ming period.

Narrow rectangular tables with legs at the four corners (zhuo) were some of the most versatile types of furniture, ubiquitous in every Ming households. Woodblock printed illustrations depicts them being used in numerous different ways, according to different needs and contexts. They are commonly depicted in bedrooms and used as writing desks or for informal meals, against the side walls of reception halls where flowers or other tasteful objects were displayed, as well as for formal dining. In such occasions, they were generally fitted with textile frontals, as in a Ming dynasty woodblock illustration of the drama Fen Xiang ji [A record of burning incense], illustrated in Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, fig. 34.

A table of very similar design, was sold in our New York rooms, 25th April 1987, lot 527; and a lute table with scroll-shaped spandrels, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, London, 1986, pl. 188. A waistless table of similar proportions, from the collection of Mr and Mrs P. Piccus, was sold at Christie’s New York, 18th September 1997, lot 17, and again, 21st September 2000, lot 35; and one fashioned from zitan wood, illustrated in Grace Wu Bruce, Ming Furniture, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 3, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th November 2012, lot 2040

明代木匠善於結構處賦巧思，所造桌案雖用料簡省，然承重無虞。此類桌案清雅素淨，乃作四面平式，腿足與桌面對齊，又接角牙以加固。該設計始於宋、興於明。

四面平式窄長條桌用途甚廣，乃明代千家萬戶之選。考木刻版畫可知，此類條桌用法多樣，可應不同場合需求。常置臥房之內，作書案或餐几，或倚客廳側牆，陳花木或珍玩，亦可設宴，供賓主遞酒布菜。條桌常罩台布，見明傳奇《焚香記》明代木刻本插圖，載於柯律格，《中國家具》，倫敦，1988年，圖34。

一桌與此對頗似，售於紐約蘇富比1987年4月25日，編號527；及一琴桌，亦帶如意角牙，錄於王世襄，《明式家具珍賞》，倫敦，1986年，圖版188。再比一桌，無束腰，構造佈局與現例相近，畢格史伉儷舊藏，曾先後售於紐約佳士得1997年9月18日，編號17，及2000年9月21日，編號35；另一例，紫檀造，錄於伍嘉恩，《明式家具》，香港，1995年，圖版3，售於香港佳士得2012年11月28日，編號2040。