17TH CENTURY

For dining, writing, appreciating antiques, or playing games, the square table is one of the most versatile forms in Chinese furniture. Several variations on the square table exist, including waisted and waistless examples, and those with decorative struts inset between the apron and stretcher, like the present example. A huanghuali table of similar height, fitted with vertical struts but without openwork corner spandrels is illustrated by Sarah Handler in Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, 2005, p. 165.