Lot 3604. A fine and very rare pair of polychrome lacquer decorated zitan side tables, Yongzheng period (1723-1735); 31 7/8 in. (81 cm.) high x 35 in. (88.8 cm.) wide x 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) deep. Estimate HKD 6,000,000 - HKD 8,000,000. Price Realized HKD 9,020,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.
The top finely painted in yellow, green and red lacquer with tight swirls in imitation of burl wood, framed by a border of floral sprays and key fret, within the rectangular top frame with beaded edge, above a narrow reticulated waist ornately carved with stylized angular archaistic scrolls above openwork aprons framing further archaistic scrolls, raised on legs of conforming design featuring hooked tabs at the midsection and repeated as stylized 'hoof' feet flanking base stretchers, the wood of attractive grain and figure.
Provenance: Property from the Anno Moffo Sarnoff Estate, sold at Sotheby's New York, 21 September 2006, lot 170
Note: It is interesting to note the use of lacquer to simulate wood. During the Yongzheng period, a number of ceramics particularly ceramic brushpots were produced in imitation of wood, such as the example included in the current sale, lot 3623; and the brushpot in the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 239, no. 68.
This trend carried over into the production of furniture, as can be seen on the present lot. Also compare a rectangular zitan table with the top surface lacquered in imitation of burl wood, illustrated in Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 110-111, no. 98.
Christie's. The Imperial Sale, Hong Kong, 1 June 2011
