17TH CENTURY

Of elegant proportions and form, the present table would most likely have been used to support a scholar's rock. The use of hefty transverse stretchers and the sturdier leg joint at the corners indicate that the table was meant to carry an object of great weight. This specific joint is taller on the waist and appears on the exterior as a block. Each leg tenons directly into the bottom of the frame, and the waist and the apron fit directly into the leg. Wang Shixiang illustrates a line drawing of this joint in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 121. no 3.32a. The strength of this joint allows for the table to be supported without stretchers, thereby creating a lighter and more rarefied form. A larger huanghuali burl-inset table with similar joint is illustrated in Grace Wu Bruce, The Best of the MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2018, pp. 112-15, and is further supported by 'giant arm's' braces.