A very rare pair of imperial embellished hardwood corner-leg tables,Qianlong period (1736-1795)

25 mars 2020

A very rare pair of imperial embellished hardwood corner-leg tables,Qianlong period (1736-1795)

Lot 3607. A very rare pair of imperial embellished hardwood corner-leg tables,Qianlong period (1736-1795); 33 3/4 in. (85.7 cm.) high x 15 1/2 in. (119 cm.) wide x 8 5/8 in. (39.4 cm.) deep. Estimate HKD 8,000,000 - HKD 12,000,000. Price Realized HKD 9,844,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2011.

Each side of the top frame carved with a continuous border of wan fret, above a narrow waist carved in relief with I-shaped emblems incised with keyfret and aprons carved with downward lappets, the corners of both frame and aprons fitted with gilt brass hardware cast with buddhist emblems amidst cloud scroll, all supported on thick legs of square section joined by 'rope-twist' stretchers inset with jade bi and cloisonne plaques and terminating in scroll-form feet carve with upright acanthus leaves.

Provenance: An American private collection, New York, acquired before 1945.

Note: The technique of embellishing furniture with archaistic white jade bi-discs and/or cloisonne enamel plaques, normally through a design that implies these elements have been attached by braided ropes, appears to be a popular form of decoration. Compare with similar example of a black lacquered kang table, decorated with circular cloisonne enamel plaques, illustrated by Hu Desheng, The Palace Collection: A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Forbidden City Publishing House, 2007, p. 240, fig. 271 (see fig. 1). A zitan incense stand inset with cloisonne enamel is also illustrated, ibid., p. 278, fig. 319.

fig. 1. Black lacquered kang table, decorated with circular cloisonne enamel plaques, illustrated by Hu Desheng, The Palace Collection: A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Forbidden City Publishing House, 2007, p. 240, fig. 271.

It is suggested that furniture inlaid with burlwood, bamboo and jade, particularly those of archaic jade design, is typical of the Jiangsu style of court furniture; and a number of narrow tables and small kang tables are collected in the Beijing Palace Museum and the Summer Palace, cf. Tian Jiaqing, Notable Features of Main Schools of Ming and Qing Furniture, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 105. Compare with a zitan corner-leg table similarly decorated with a simulated rope-twist design attaching circular jade discs, illustrated by Tian Jiaqing, Classic Chinese Furniture of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 176, no. 76 (see fig. 2). A related table carved in openwork with the same 'rope-twist and bi-disc' design along the narrow waist of a zitan table is in the Qing Court Collection, dated to the Qianlong period, illustrated in Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 104, no. 42.

fig. 2. Zitan corner-leg table similarly decorated with a simulated rope-twist design attaching circular jade discs, illustrated by Tian Jiaqing, Classic Chinese Furniture of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 176, no. 76.

Christie's. The Imperial Sale, Hong Kong, 1 June 2011

Posté par Alain Truong à 16:17 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: hardwood, Qianlong period (1736-1795), corner-leg table