Lot 273. A rare 'huanghuali' recessed leg table (Qiaotou'an), 16th-17th Century. Height 81.6 cm; Width 175.6 cm; Depth 47.3 cm. Estimate 400,000 - 600,000 USD. © Sotheby's 2025

Provenance: Collection of John W. Gruber.

Sotheby's New York, 1st April 2005, lot 284.

Literature: Sarah Handler, "Outstanding Pieces in Private Rooms: Chinese Classical Furniture in New American Collections," Orientations, January 1993, figs 13 and 13a.

Note: With its harmonious proportions, elegant carving, and beautifully figured grain, the present table represents classical Chinese furniture of the late Ming dynasty at its peak. Such tables, known as qiaotou’an, were designed to be placed against the wall in prominent locations within the house or studio, and were often used to display precious antiques or works of art. The Ming dynasty scholar and artist, Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645), in his influential Zhang wu zhi [Treatise on Superfluous Things], recommended that such tables be placed underneath a painting and even suggested that “one may place such things as fantastic rocks, seasonal flowers, or miniature tray-landscapes.”

Both in form and in material, the present table is a masterpiece of late Ming dynasty craftsmanship, reflecting the restrained aesthetic found in artistic centers such as the city of Suzhou. The legs are gracefully splayed at an angle that provides stability and visual harmony to the overall form, and are joined by stretchers with ruyi-motif panels and shaped aprons. Each of the long-side aprons beneath the top frame are carved from a single piece of timber, and with ornate ruyi cloud designs at the spandrels. The outward flare of the everted ends perfectly balances the inward splay of the legs. The rich, feathered grain of the huanghuali is evident throughout, but perhaps nowhere more so than on the spandrels, which would have been the most visible part of the table when viewed in the domestic setting.

The rare design of the present table is discussed at length by Sarah Handler in ”Outstanding Pieces in Private Rooms: Chinese Classical Furniture in New American Collections,” Orientations, January 1993: In contrast to qiaotou’an with tops made from a single plank or with framing members only on the long edges, the present table has framing members on both the long and short sides, with the everted flanges inset directly into the tops of the short side frames. Noting that the long side frames are wider than on the short sides, which many would perceive to indicate the table was reduced at some point, Handler posits that “because the apron and spandrels are made from one continuous piece of wood, all the elements of the table are in perfect proportion, and the highly figured wood is consistent throughout the piece,” making any suggestion of reduction “impossible.”

The design of such tables is recorded as early as the Song dynasty (960-1279), when tables with bridle and tenon joints, a continuous apron with small spandrels, and double stretchers at the sides were produced. Two tables of this type are depicted on the painting Cun tong nao xue tu [Country boys playing class], attributed to the Song dynasty and illustrated in Wang Shixiang, ‘Development of Furniture Design and Construction from the Song to the Ming’, Selected Articles from Orientations, 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 55, fig. 35. However, prototypes for the design from as early as the Spring and Autumn period have been excavated, including a small sacrificial table from Tomb 4 at Zhaoxiang, Dangyang in Hubei Province, illustrated by Sarah Handler in “Side Tables, a Surface for Treasures and the Gods,” Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-2003, Hong Kong, 2004, p. 200, fig. 2.