Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 7 November 2017, London
A nanmu-inset huanghuali wine table, jiuzhuo, Ming dynasty, 17th century
Lot 149. A nanmu-inset huanghuali wine table, jiuzhuo, Ming dynasty, 17th century. 36 ½ in. (92.7 cm.) wide, 18 ¼ in. (46.5 cm.) deep, 29 in. (73.6 cm.) high. Estimate GBP 80,000 - GBP 120,000. Price realised GBP 125,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017.
The single panel top is set within a rectangular frame above plain aprons and spandrels. The table is supported overall on legs of rounded section, joined by pairs of stretchers.
Provenance: With Grace Wu Bruce.
Property from a Distinguished Private Collection.
Note: Woodblock prints depict tables of similar size and proportion to the present lot used in daily activities, such as for writing, displaying objects, and dining. See, a serpentine-inlaid huanghuali wine table illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, pp. 94-95, no. 44. In Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 77. no B34, Wang Shixiang illustrates a wine table of with square-section, beaded legs. The author also discusses the form, and its variants, ibid., vol. I, pp. 54-6.