Lot 160. A large huanghuali recessed-leg table, pingtouan, 17th century; 32 5/8in. (82.8 cm.) high, 81½ in. (207.1) wide, 20 7/8 in. (53 cm.) deep. Estimate $70,000 - $90,000. Price Realized $68,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2008

The single-panel top set into a broad frame with 'ice-plate' edge, supported on legs of round section joined by pairs of oval stretchers, with plain aprons and apron-head spandrels.

Note: The spare, economical lines of this design make it one of the classic forms of Chinese furniture. The basic proportions were adapted to make large painting tables, smaller tables, benches and stools. This form is referred to in the Classic of Lu Ban as a 'character one' table due to its similarity in profile to the single horizontal stroke of the Chinese character for 'one'.

Several examples of this elegant form have been published. See Splendor of Style: Classical Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1999, p. 143, for a large huanghuali recessed-leg painting table of similar form, dated to the 16th or 17th century. See, also, G. Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Rutland/Tokyo, 1962, pl. 46, no. 36 for another example in huanghuali.

Compare, also, the huanghuali recessed-leg painting table formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 16, where it was dated to the late 16th/early 17th century.

Christie's. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART. 17 September 2008, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.