17TH CENTURY

The presence of integral shoulders in the legs, carved to accommodate the single shelf, suggest the shelf is original. Compare a similar table with a shelf in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joan Biddle, illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. 173, no. 72. See, also, a huanghuali recessed-leg side table of similar proportions constructed with integral shoulders in the legs and with everted rims, from the Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, sold at Christie's New York, 18 March 2015, lot 118.