A LARGE AND RARE HUANGHUALI BALANCE STAND, TIANPINGJIA

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Together, Raymond Hung and Mimi Wong amassed one of the most comprehensive and celebrated collections of Chinese furniture in Asia. The collecting couple was drawn to the elegant lines and beautiful woods found in classical Chinese furniture. The mid-1980s was an exciting time to be collecting Chinese furniture. Important and informative examples emerged in China fuelling leaps in scholarship and influencing connoisseurship. Into this exciting atmosphere, Raymond Hung entered the market, which enabled him to study and collect some of the rarest and most important examples. The collection was shaped by preeminent New York dealer, Robert H. Ellsworth, who with the publication of his 1971 Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples from the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasty inspired a new generation of scholars and collectors to the field. This seminal book re-shaped the discussion around Chinese furniture and remains one the defining publications dedicated to the subject. Under Ellsworth’s guidance, Raymond Hung sought significant examples in huanghuali and zitan, but also expanded the collection to include important lacquer examples and refined scholar’s objects. Their relationship developed into an everlasting friendship with frequent visits to Mr. Ellsworth’s New York apartment and estate in Connecticut. In 1996, Robert Ellsworth published Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, volume I and followed this publication with volume II in 2005. In 1998, highlights from the collection were exhibited at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, and published in the accompanying catalogue, Essence of Style: Chinese Furniture of the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties. Raymond Hung currently serves as the Executive Committee Director of the Min Chiu Society, an organization he has been a member of for over 25 years. During his collecting journey, Mr. Hung has had the opportunity to learn from and acquire works from the most distinguished dealers of Chinese furniture, including Robert H. Ellsworth, Hei Honglu and Albert Chan of Chan Shing Kee. He is indebted for their attention, experience, and scholarship. PROPERTY FROM THE RAYMOND HUNG COLLECTION

A LARGE AND RARE HUANGHUALI BALANCE STAND, TIANPINGJIA

17TH-18TH CENTURY

Details

A LARGE AND RARE HUANGHUALI BALANCE STAND, TIANPINGJIA
17TH-18TH CENTURY
The upright frame is joined by a humpback stretcher above the humpback top rail, and suspends a pair of balance scales stamped W & T Avery, Makers, Birmingham 38243. The corner posts are flanked by standing spandrels and supported on a long rectangular base with two drawers.
27 in. (68.6 cm.) high, 21 ½ in. (54.6 cm.) wide, 7 ¼ in. (18.4 cm.) deep

Literature

R. H. Ellsworth, N. Grindley and Anita Christy, Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, vol. 1, New York, 1996, pp. 242-43, no. 100.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

Lot Essay

Scales were essential for use in the Ming dynasty, when silver was the main form of currency, and were found in shops throughout China. A 17th-century woodblock illustration from the Jin Ping Mei shows a balance stand in use at a silk shop. (Fig. 1) It is rare to find balance stands retaining their scales. This particular example is distinguished by its brass scales.

A 17th-century huanghuali balance stand in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and illustrated by R.D. Jacobsen and N. Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, 1999, pp. 176-77, no. 63, has slightly larger proportions and displays an austere design similar to the present example. See, also, a related huanghuali balance stand with openwork spandrels and two-drawer construction of similar proportion sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2016, lot 1209.

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