Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, 16 May 2019
A rare huanghuali corner-leg table, fangzhuo, 18th century
Lot 78TP Y. A rare huanghuali corner-leg table, fangzhuo, 18th century; 91cm (35 3/4inin) wide x 92cm (36 1/4in) deep x 87cm (34 1/4in) high. Estimate £ 50,000 - 70,000 (€ 58,000 - 81,000). Sold for £ 150,062 (€ 171,314). © Bonhams 2001-2019
The top of standard mitre, mortise and tenon frame, floating-single panel construction resting on a recessed waist and straight beaded-edge apron carved with stylised and interlocking floral scrolls, all supported on square section legs beaded to the inner edge, tenoned to the mitred frame and terminating in well-drawn hoof feet, joined by beaded hump-back shaped stretchers mortised and tenoned into the legs below the apron.
Provenance: a British private collection, formed circa 1980s-1990s.
Note: For dining, writing, appreciating antiques, or playing games, the square table is the most versatile in Chinese furniture. The high, humpback stretchers of the present lot strengthens the table while lightening the overall appearance, and not interfering with the knees of the sitters.
Compare with a similar table, with carved aprons, illustrated by S.Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley and Toronto, 2005, p.167. See an earlier related huanghuali table, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Ming Qing gongting jiaju daguan, vol.1, Beijing, 2006, p.181, pl.188.
Compare with a similar huanghuali square corner-leg table, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2012, lot 1322.