MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

The Chinese couplets can be translated as: "The blossoms swaying gently in the breeze, the red petals in the rain, resembling thin silk" and "The beauty of colour and texture of mother-of-pearl [are] as refined as [what is] used for the birthday cup for the Emperor Yao"

The technique of using mother-of-pearl as decoration on lacquerwares appears as early as the Shang dynasty. From its earlier stylised form, the designs became more detailed by the Yuan period, with the shell carvings being used to render images inspired by either paintings, popular dramas or themes from woodblock prints. It is particularly unusual to find depictions of musical instruments in mother-of-pearl inlay as seen on the borders here.

The rocks and flowers to the top of this table and the floral sprays to the legs bear close stylistic comparison to the square black lacquer mother-of-pearl-inlaid table in the Musée Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Chinese Furniture, Michel Beurdeley, Tokyo, 1983, fig. 159, p 117. A Ming dynasty mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer table, Wanli mark and period (1573-1619), in the Palace Collection, Beijing, is illustrated in Treasures of the Forbidden City, Zhu Jiajin, Middlesex, 1986. See also a mother-of-pearl inlaid black table of related form and design from the Kangxi period (1662-1722), illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1), Hong Kong, 2002, fig 143, p 169.