A HUANGHUALI THREE-SPANDREL-CORNER SQUARE TABLE, FANGZHUO

Details

A HUANGHUALI THREE-SPANDREL-CORNER SQUARE TABLE, FANGZHUO
LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY

The paneled top set within a frame with complex 'ice-plate' edge and supported on legs of circular section, the beaded apron with apron-head spandrels flanking each leg, a third spandrel joining the outside of the leg to the corner of the projecting top, the humpback stretchers meeting the apron at the mid-sections and following the outline of the spandrels at the corners to create attractive 'gooseneck'-shaped openings
34 5/8in. (88cm.) high, the top 41 3/4in. (106cm.) square

Literature

Sarah Handler, "Classical Chinese Furniture in the Renaissance Collection", Orientations, January 1991, p. 46, fig. 7
Sheila Keppel, "The Well-Furnished Tomb", Part I, JCCFS, Summer 1992, p. 17, fig. 11
Curtis Evarts, "The Artistry of Chinese Furniture Joinery: A Manifold Expression", Orientations, January 1993, pp. 55 and 56
Sarah Handler, "Square Tables Where the Immortals Dine", JCCFS, Autumn 1994, p. 16, fig. 19
Wang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, p. 98, no. 46

Lot Essay

Compare the smaller three-spandrel-corner square table with stepped outer spandrel illustrated by Gustav Ecke in Chinese Domestic Furniture, pl. 71, no. 54. See, also, the almost identical table included in the exhibition, Ming Furniture, and illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce in the Catalogue, no. 10. A smaller example is included by Craig Clunas in Chinese Furniture, p. 57, pl. 46. Another similar table has been recently acquired by the Royal Museum of Scotland