A purple lacquered lacquer table with corner braces. Qing Dynasty, 17th Century

the rectangular top with rounded sides echoed by the circular sectioned legs tenoned directly into the top frame and secured by a plain apron with rounded spandrels and corner S-braces angled directly diagonally from the corners into two transverse braces on the underside of the table top, the top covered in an aubergine coloured lacquer with traces of black wearing through and the sides covered in a burnt umber lacquer. 85 by 136 by 79 cm 33 1/2 by 53 1/2 by 31 1/8 in. Estimate 800,000—1,200,000 HKD

Note: The table is oblong, of wood covered complete by purple lacquer, and has no decoration. Around the edges of the table top runs a beaded moulding. It has round legs, and beneath the table top are straight aprons. Between the legs are fitted 'giant's arm' braces [extending from the leg to the underside of the table top at a 45° angle]. The entire design seems subtle and soft, and the legs are distinctly splayed. The distinctive lacquer surface and the particular design are both features of early Qing furniture. Lacquer furniture is difficult to preserve, and very few pieces such the present lot have survived—so it has important historical value and aesthetic value.

The use of purple in pre-modern China was taboo, and only the emperor could afford to use it. In Taiwan, the venerated Professor Wang Yuqing, researcher in Chinese clothing, has said, "Why is the colour purple held in such high esteem? The answer comes from Chinese astronomy, which was born as early as remotest antiquity at the time of Tang and Yu." The purple subtle (ziwei) stars that make up the "Wall of Purple Subtlety Constellation" are first-class stars, therefore a comparable term for the emperor in the human world is "Purple Subtle Star," and so terms such as "Purple Constellation Palace" and "Purple Forbidden City" came into use. Poetry from the Tang and Song periods all use "purple" to refer to the emperor, the imperial family—even the roads inside the Imperial Palace are referred to as Purple Boulevards (zimo); all these are recorded in literary and historical sources.

But from documentary evidence we know that extant purple-lacquer furniture is extremely rare; moreover, most of them are in the palace collection. However, the present lot looks very similar to a slightly larger purple lacquer oblong table formerly kept in the Duanning dian (Hall of Solemnity) (a storeroom for imperial hats, robe and shoes located on the east side of the Forbidden City), and is illustrated in Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 113, no. 96 (our fig. 1).

Sotheby's. Ming Imperial Furniture- The Biegucang Collection. 08 Apr 09. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com photo courtesy Sotheby's