A small huanghuali and green stone recessed-leg table with a shield, pingtouan, Late Ming dynasty

24 mai 2020

A small huanghuali and green stone recessed-leg table with a shield, pingtouan, Late Ming dynasty

A SMALL HUANGHUALI AND GREEN STONE RECESSED-LEG TABLE WITH A SHELF, PINGTOUAN LATE MING DYNASTY |

Lot 129. A small huanghuali and green stone recessed-leg table with a shield, pingtouan, Late Ming dynasty; 75 by 68.4 by 38.6 cm., 29 1/2 by 26 7/8 by 15 1/4 in. Estimate 900,000 — 1,800,000 HKD. Lot Sold 3,320,000 HKD (381,654 EUR). Courtesy Sotheby's.

the top of standard mitre, mortise and tenon construction with a green stone top supported by two transverse stretchers underneath, the edge of the mitred frame gently moulded and ending in a beaded edge, all supported on splayed round legs cut to house the shaped spandrelled apron, the legs double-tennoned into the top, and interrupted by a shelf, tongue-and-grooved into the mitre, mortise and tenon frame.

Exhibited: Grace Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1991, cat. no. 17, pp. 56-57.
The Chinese Collections, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 1997-99.
Grace Wu Bruce presents Ming Furniture from the Collection of Dr. S. Y. Yip, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, 1999.
Grace Wu Bruce, Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr. S. Y. Yip collections, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 24-25.

Literature: Catherine Maudsley, ed., Classical and Vernacular Chinese Furniture in the Living Environment, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 125.

Note: "Addition of a shelf gives the table a different presence. Green clouds on the table top gives it a distinct complexion."

Various stones, especially dalishi marble were favoured as table tops in Song times, as evidenced by their frequent depiction in scholarly gatherings in Song paintings, e.g. The Eighteen Scholars in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Surviving examples of Ming furniture with stone panels are rare. However, the side tables with inset stone panels excavated from the tomb of Prince Zhu Tan (1370-1389) in Shandong wood seem to indicate that stone panels as table tops were popular in Ming furniture manufacture. This type of table is a standard Ming design that has evolved from the classic pingtouan table.

For similar examples with a huanghuali top, see Wang Shixiang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, pp. 96-97 and Grace Wu Bruce, Ming Furniture in the Forbidden City, Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 86-87.

Sotheby's. Ming Furniture – The Dr S Y Yip Collection, Hong Kong, 07 October 2015

Posté par Alain Truong à 16:10 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: huanghuali, Pingtouan, Late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection, green stone, recessed-leg table with a shield