AN IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE HUANGHUALI TABLE, BANZHUO MING DYNASTY, 16TH – 17TH CENTURY | 明十六至十七世紀 黃花梨雕龍鳳花鳥紋束腰矮桌展腿式半桌

C.L. Ma Antiques, Hong Kong.

The Gangolf Geis Collection.

Christie's New York, 18th September 2003, lot 23.

樂成行，香港

Gangolf Geis 收藏

紐約佳士得2003年9月18日，編號23

This exquisite table is special for its finely carved aprons and spandrels, which include a lively depiction of phoenix among clouds flanking the sun. It belongs to a highly unusual group of profusely decorated side tables, whose upper part resembles a kang table – low tables used on the heated kang. The well-known Chinese furniture scholar Wang Shixiang thus refers to them as ai zhuo zhan tui shi or 'low table with extended legs'. The abundance of carved decoration on these tables represents a clear departure from the clean and sober aesthetics more commonly associated with 17th century furniture, and demonstrates the co-existence of different furniture styles in this period.

Tables of this design are very rare and only two closely related examples appear to have been published; a table from the collection of Wang Shixiang, now in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1985, pl. 84; and one included in the exhibition Beyond the Screen. Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, cat. no. 22.

A related design is found on square tables, including one with scroll-shaped spandrels and dragons on the apron, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Beijing, 2007, vol. I, pl. 166; and a table with removable legs, from the collection of Dr S.Y. Yip, sold in these rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 118.

The graceful curves of this piece, created by its undulated waist and the shaped aprons, and its decoration are imbued with a feminine quality. The long sides of the table are carved with a motif of two phoenix facing the sun (shuangfeng chaoyang), an omen for the arrival of enlightened men, while the short sides with a pair of birds perched on flowering branches. Wang Shixiang, op.cit., p. 281, suggests that the former share similarities with designs found on contemporary brocade, while the latter with polychrome porcelains of the Wanli reign (r. 1573-1620).

牙條輪廓圓轉，刀法秀逸，正面雕雙鳳朝陽，獨具一格。此桌為半桌，雕飾精繁，殊為罕見，上部形如炕桌，王世襄名之曰「矮桌展腿式」。十七世紀家具多尚素淨，然此類半桌不吝華飾，融不同家具風格於一身，別有韻致。

與此桌類似者極少，僅兩例有載：其一，王世襄舊藏，現上海博物館蓄，錄於王世襄，《明式家具珍賞》，香港，1985年，圖版84；其二，曾展於《屏居佳器：十六、十七世紀中國家具》，波士頓美術館，1996年，編號22。

相類雕飾亦用於方桌，如一例，帶卷形牙頭，牙條雕龍，藏北京故宮博物院，錄於胡德生，《A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture》，北京，2007年，卷1，圖版166；另一例，腿足可拆卸，攻玉山房舊藏，售於香港蘇富比2015年10月7日，編號118。

現例帶蕉葉邊束腰及壼門牙條，線條流暢，紋飾柔婉。正面牙條作雙鳳朝陽，寓意賢才逢明時，兩側牙條則各雕鳥棲花枝。據王世襄，同時代錦緞圖案也繡雙鳳朝陽，萬曆五彩瓷器亦繪鳥棲花枝，見前述出處，頁281。