Provenance: James Biddle (1929-2005) Collection, Washington D.C.

Literature: R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. 171, nos. 70 and 70a.

The present table as published by Robert Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. 171, nos. 70 and 70a. Courtesy of Hei Hung Lu.

Note: Recessed-leg tables of this type were produced with either straight or raised ends and of varying lengths, which makes them highly versatile. Its form also represents one of the most successful designs in classical Chinese furniture, with their visually pleasing proportions achieved through simple and clean structure further enhanced by elegantly carved cloud-shaped spandrels. It is noteworthy that the master craftsman who created this table paid enormous attention to small details in that all of the tenons in both the long and short sides are hidden, and most unusually, the framing rails and transverse stretchers of the underside are finished with beaded edges.