Lot Essay
This simple, elegant form is one of the most frequently employed in Chinese furniture construction. As it was so highly successful, numerous variations on the form exist, including waisted and waistless examples, those with and without stretchers, and both square and side tables.
Several examples are in both public and private collections. See C. Evarts, Liang Yi Collection: Huanghuali, Hong Kong, 2007, p. 121, no. 43 for an 18th century table of very similar form. Also see C. Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 48, no. 33 for a huali example of this form in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, although dated to the late Ming dynasty. A third example in huanghuali, dated to the 16th-17th century, of waistless form, is illustrated by G.W. Bruce, Living with Ming - the Lu Ming Shi Collection, 2000, p. 110, no. 23.
Several examples are in both public and private collections. See C. Evarts, Liang Yi Collection: Huanghuali, Hong Kong, 2007, p. 121, no. 43 for an 18th century table of very similar form. Also see C. Clunas, Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 48, no. 33 for a huali example of this form in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, although dated to the late Ming dynasty. A third example in huanghuali, dated to the 16th-17th century, of waistless form, is illustrated by G.W. Bruce, Living with Ming - the Lu Ming Shi Collection, 2000, p. 110, no. 23.