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Lot Essay
The elegant simplicity of the present table is derived from its pure form and balanced proportions and defines the restrained yet sophisticated aesthetic of Ming furniture. The bold lines are subtly distinguished by the finely beaded aprons that continue down the leg and terminate in sharply upturned hoof feet. The powerful lines are interrupted by the gracefully curved ‘giant’s arm braces’, which add to the overall refinement of this unusual form.
Tables of this form were used throughout the Ming-dynasty domestic interior and for a variety of activities. Close study of woodblock prints dating to the Ming period show long tables positioned against walls, set for dining, and placed alongside bed sides. A Wanli-period woodblock print from the Lu Ban Jing shows a young scholar seated at a large waisted corner-leg table with ‘giant’s arms’ braces, his foot firmly placed on a footrest below, and studiously reading a text. (fig. 1). These prints suggest that tables were multifunctional.
Compare, a huanghuali waisted corner-leg table supported on ‘giant arms braces’, of slightly larger proportion illustrated by G. Ecke, Domestic Chinese Furniture, Rutland and Tokyo, 1962, pl. 9. See, also, another huanghuali table of related form, but with S-curved ‘giant’s arms braces’ and low hoof feet, illustrated by N. Berliner et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture from the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 1996, pp. 130-131, no. 20.
Tables of this form were used throughout the Ming-dynasty domestic interior and for a variety of activities. Close study of woodblock prints dating to the Ming period show long tables positioned against walls, set for dining, and placed alongside bed sides. A Wanli-period woodblock print from the Lu Ban Jing shows a young scholar seated at a large waisted corner-leg table with ‘giant’s arms’ braces, his foot firmly placed on a footrest below, and studiously reading a text. (fig. 1). These prints suggest that tables were multifunctional.
Compare, a huanghuali waisted corner-leg table supported on ‘giant arms braces’, of slightly larger proportion illustrated by G. Ecke, Domestic Chinese Furniture, Rutland and Tokyo, 1962, pl. 9. See, also, another huanghuali table of related form, but with S-curved ‘giant’s arms braces’ and low hoof feet, illustrated by N. Berliner et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture from the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 1996, pp. 130-131, no. 20.