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Lot Essay
This combination of inlaid mother-of-pearl, painted lacquer and European-influenced parquetry appears to be very rare.
Compare the black lacquer table inlaid with mother-of-pearl dated 16th/17th century with related geometric patterns decorating the waist and illustrated in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Dragon and Phoenix: Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection, Tokyo, The Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, 24 March - 24 June 1990, p. 222, no. 98. Refer, also, to the small lacquer table with similar geometric diaper pattern, included in the exhibition Catalogue, Ch'ing Lacquer Artifacts, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1997, p. 132. A number of small items such as boxes, and trays exist which have such geometric 'brocade' decoration. See the Catalogue of the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, The Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 24 September - 21 November 1993, nos. 97 and 98 for such a circular box dated to the 17th century and a similar vase dated to the 18th century respectively. The entry for no. 98 mentions that there is a pair of black lacquered bookshelves now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, datable to 1673, but also suggests that this tradition of workmanship may have continued into a later period.
Compare the black lacquer table inlaid with mother-of-pearl dated 16th/17th century with related geometric patterns decorating the waist and illustrated in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Dragon and Phoenix: Chinese Lacquer Ware, The Lee Family Collection, Tokyo, The Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne, 24 March - 24 June 1990, p. 222, no. 98. Refer, also, to the small lacquer table with similar geometric diaper pattern, included in the exhibition Catalogue, Ch'ing Lacquer Artifacts, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1997, p. 132. A number of small items such as boxes, and trays exist which have such geometric 'brocade' decoration. See the Catalogue of the exhibition, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, The Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 24 September - 21 November 1993, nos. 97 and 98 for such a circular box dated to the 17th century and a similar vase dated to the 18th century respectively. The entry for no. 98 mentions that there is a pair of black lacquered bookshelves now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, datable to 1673, but also suggests that this tradition of workmanship may have continued into a later period.