Monochrome | Important Chinese Art
Monochrome | Important Chinese Art
Property from a European private collection
A rare and finely carved zitan and hongmu 'auspicious emblems' altar table, Qing dynasty, 18th/19th century | 清十八/十九世紀 紫檀拼紅木雜寶紋平頭案
Auction Closed
November 2, 04:07 PM GMT
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a European private collection
A rare and finely carved zitan and hongmu 'auspicious emblems' altar table
Qing dynasty, 18th/19th century
清十八/十九世紀 紫檀拼紅木雜寶紋平頭案
84 by 150 by 37.2 cm, 33⅛ by 59 by 14⅝ in.
The exceptional skills of the Chinese furniture makers and wood carvers, active during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), is displayed in this beautiful altar table with recessed legs. The use of the rare and exotic zitan wood and the elaborate and deep carving of the apron, depicting auspicious items and bats fluttering among clouds, make this table special and rare. Furniture of this high quality was likely either created in the workshops of Suzhou or Beijing. Hu Desheng in A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2008, pp. 38-40, discusses the Suzhou-style (Sushi) and the Beijing-style (Jingshi) furniture production, noting that the former was renowned for its beautiful forms, elegant lines, lucid construction, balanced proportions and intricate decoration, while the latter represented imperial furnishings made by artisans from Guangzhou working in the capital.
The extreme rarity of zitan wood is worth noting. With its smooth and silk-like texture, fine and dense grain and strikingly deep lustre, zitan wood has long been the most prized timber type for furniture makers in China. Its natural lustre, called baojiangliang in Chinese, develops with use and is impossible to reproduce artificially. Its long growth period and limited availability in China made it especially valuable and by the Qing dynasty measures were taken for its protection.
A related table in the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly fashioned in zitan wood and with related legs of square section terminating in hoof feet and also carved with bats and clouds on the apron, is illustrated in The Two Hundred Pieces You Should Know. Red Sandalwood Furniture, Beijing, 2008, pl. 77, and also in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 135. The carving style of this table, in luxurious and rich deep relief, is similar to that seen here. Compare also a large zitan square table, attributed to the Qianlong period, its apron carved with a dense acanthus leaf scroll that continues onto the square section legs sold in our Paris rooms, 9th October 2007, lot 1330, and its companion piece, in the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, illustrated in Lark Mason, ‘Examples of Ming Furniture in American Collections Formed Prior to 1980’, Orientations, January, 1992, p. 79, fig. 9. Related floral scroll decoration may be found on another table, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, included The Two Hundred Pieces You Should Know. Red Sandalwood Furniture, op.cit., pl. 131.
For examples of tables of this type, but with simpler decoration, see a hongmu altar table, sold in our New York rooms, 25th September 1986, lot 536; and a huanghuali table with an apron carved with gourds and meandering leafy vines, sold at Christie’s London, 10th May 2011, lot 205.
The extreme rarity of zitan wood is worth noting. With its smooth and silk-like texture, fine and dense grain and strikingly deep lustre, zitan wood has long been the most prized timber type for furniture makers in China. Its natural lustre, called baojiangliang in Chinese, develops with use and is impossible to reproduce artificially. Its long growth period and limited availability in China made it especially valuable and by the Qing dynasty measures were taken for its protection.
A related table in the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly fashioned in zitan wood and with related legs of square section terminating in hoof feet and also carved with bats and clouds on the apron, is illustrated in The Two Hundred Pieces You Should Know. Red Sandalwood Furniture, Beijing, 2008, pl. 77, and also in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasty (II), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 135. The carving style of this table, in luxurious and rich deep relief, is similar to that seen here. Compare also a large zitan square table, attributed to the Qianlong period, its apron carved with a dense acanthus leaf scroll that continues onto the square section legs sold in our Paris rooms, 9th October 2007, lot 1330, and its companion piece, in the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, illustrated in Lark Mason, ‘Examples of Ming Furniture in American Collections Formed Prior to 1980’, Orientations, January, 1992, p. 79, fig. 9. Related floral scroll decoration may be found on another table, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, included The Two Hundred Pieces You Should Know. Red Sandalwood Furniture, op.cit., pl. 131.
For examples of tables of this type, but with simpler decoration, see a hongmu altar table, sold in our New York rooms, 25th September 1986, lot 536; and a huanghuali table with an apron carved with gourds and meandering leafy vines, sold at Christie’s London, 10th May 2011, lot 205.