Live Auction 1119Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
A LARGE HUANGHUALI 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' ALTAR TABLE, QIAOTOUAN
Lot 294

A LARGE HUANGHUALI 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' ALTAR TABLE, QIAOTOUAN

19TH CENTURY

Closed14 May 2013

Price Realised

GBP 109,875

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A LARGE HUANGHUALI 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' ALTAR TABLE, QIAOTOUAN
19TH CENTURY
The thick plank top is set with scroll-form ends that gently curve upwards, above spandrels finely carved with stylised archaistic phoenix whose feathers are formed by elaborate scrolling tendrils. The thick legs are of rectangular section, enclosing openwork panels intricately carved with archaistic kui-dragons, set into wide shoe feet.
72¾ in. (185 cm.) long, 19½ in. (49.5 cm.) deep, 35¼ in. (89 cm.) high

Specialist note

The impressive size of this table indicates that it would have been placed in a prominent position, most probably against the wall of a grand hall or in the centre of an altar. For example, see the positioning of a related recessed trestle-leg table in the Palace of Gathering Excellence, which is decorated with mother-of-pearl on a lacquer ground, and is illustrated in Ming Qing Gong Ting Jia Ju Da Guan, Part II, Beijing, 2006, p. 698, pl. 800. A Ming Dynasty huali table carved very similarly to the current lot with archaistic phoenix is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 150, pl. 130. See also a comparable altar table sold Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2004.