Lot 5727. A large huanghuali altar table, Late Ming-early Qing dynasty; 256 by 63 by h. 84.5 cm. Lot Sold 1,200,000 HKD (Estimate 500,000 - 900,000 HKD). © Sotheby's 2024

Note: Of simple lines and economic construction, rectangular tables like this are among the most classic types of Ming-style furniture. The present table is particularly remarkable for retaining much of the original lacquer and ramie undercoating. 

What is generally known as an altar table, has in fact a wide variety of uses. It was commonly used as a surface for painting, where an artist can freely use the brush over a long stretch of paper or silk. It can also be placed against a wall inside a scholar's studio to display antiques and objects of enjoyment. Indeed, this type of table is not limited to to the male domain. In a late Ming woodblock printed edition of Qi ting ji [Story of the Flag Pavilion], a lady is depicted doing her sewing work in front of a very similarly designed table (see Lau Chu-Park, Classical Chinese Huanghuali Furniture from the Haven Collection, Hong Kong, 2016, pls 29-31).

Compare with a huanghuali table of slightly larger proportions, sold in our New York rooms, 19th March 1997, lot 383 and again, 23rd March 2011, lot 671; and one sold in our New York rooms, 28 May 1991 lot 372; another altar table of very similar design but longer was sold in these rooms, 6th April 2016, lot 113; an example from the Victoria & Albert Museum is illustrated in Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, pl. 28; a table with a pair of single stretchers from the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in Hu Desheng, tr. Curtis Evans, A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, pl. 285.