Lot 132. A huanghuali square waisted corner-leg table, fangzhuo, 18th century; 89cm (35in) square x 86cm (33 14/16in) high. Estimate HK$ 400,000-600,000. Sold for HK$ 502,500 (£ 48,614). Photo: Bonhams.

The top of standard mitre, mortise and tenon frame, tongue-and-grooved floating three-board panel construction supported by three dovetailed transverse stretchers underneath, two with exposed tenons, the short rails of the frame top with further exposed tenons, the edge of the frame moulding downward and inward and ending in a banded edge, all resting on a recessed waist and beaded-edged straight apron, all supported on square-section legs beaded to the inner edge terminating in well-drawn hoof feet, joined by humpback-shaped stretchers mortised and tenoned into the legs and connected to the apron on each side by two shou-character struts. 

Provenance: Asiart Corner, Hong Kong
A Hong Kong private collection, acquired from the above on 19 October 1996.

Note: The current table is also known as fangzhuo or sixianzhuo for its square shape and size accommodating four seats or stools. Tables of this form have been the choice for dining, writing, appreciating antiques, or playing games and have been an essential part of domestic furnishings since the late Ming dynasty.

It is rare to find a waisted square table with carved struts supported in between the apron and humpback-shaped stretchers; however, see a closely related drawing of a square waisted table, but with cloud-scroll shaped struts, illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Mingshi jiaju yanjiu, Beijing, 2007, p.99, pl.Yi.52.

Compare with a related huanghuali square corner-leg table, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2012, lot 1322, and another related huanghuali square waisted corner-leg table, but with carved apron, which was sold at Bonhams London, 16 May 2019, lot 78.

A huanghuali square corner-leg table, fangzhuo, 17th-18th century; 34¼ in. (87 cm.) high, 36¾ in. (93.3 cm.) wide, 37¼ in. (94.6 cm.) deep. Estimate USD 60,000 - USD 80,000. Price realised USD 104,500  at Christie's New York, 22 March 2012, lot 1322. Courtesy Christie's Images Ltd