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拍品专文
ShanRuoshuixuan (善若水軒), which can translated as The Pavilion of Benevolent Waters, refers to the phrase shang shan ruo shui (上善若水) from the Tao Te Ching by Laozi, and can be translated as “the highest excellence is like that of water.” In this foundational text, water is glorified as benefitting all things: “the highest excellence is like (that of) water. The excellence of water benefits all things, and in being present without striving (to the contrary).” As water flows through a landscape, the water shifts and transforms space, small improvements reshape life. The studio name reflects the refined excellence of this expansive and renowned collection and pays tribute to a lifetime of purposeful actions.
It is rare to find a single-plank qiaotou’an of this massive size and thickness of plank (5.4 cm.) that prizes quality of material and size equally. To imagine the girth and age of the tree from which this plank was hewn is staggering. Of the published examples, there are few huanghuali trestle-leg tables larger than the present table. Two huanghuali tables, both in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (53), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 146, pl. 126 and p. 160, pl. 137, are longer than the present table, measuring 402 cm. and 359 cm. in length, respectively.
Forgoing the more commonly seen ruyi-form spandrels, the present spandrels are carved in high relief with a bold taotie mask. The dramatic eyes of the mythical beast bisect the legs. Bold archaistic scrollwork frame the spandrels. The openwork panels joining the legs are dynamically carved with spirited chilong. This rare and inventive design elevates this dramatic table form. A huanghuali trestle-leg table, dating to the late 17th-early 18th century, with similar incised taotie mask carving on the spandrels is illustrated by Curtis Evarts, Liang Yi Collection, Vol I. Huanghuali, Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 102-3, no. 33.
It is rare to find a single-plank qiaotou’an of this massive size and thickness of plank (5.4 cm.) that prizes quality of material and size equally. To imagine the girth and age of the tree from which this plank was hewn is staggering. Of the published examples, there are few huanghuali trestle-leg tables larger than the present table. Two huanghuali tables, both in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (53), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 146, pl. 126 and p. 160, pl. 137, are longer than the present table, measuring 402 cm. and 359 cm. in length, respectively.
Forgoing the more commonly seen ruyi-form spandrels, the present spandrels are carved in high relief with a bold taotie mask. The dramatic eyes of the mythical beast bisect the legs. Bold archaistic scrollwork frame the spandrels. The openwork panels joining the legs are dynamically carved with spirited chilong. This rare and inventive design elevates this dramatic table form. A huanghuali trestle-leg table, dating to the late 17th-early 18th century, with similar incised taotie mask carving on the spandrels is illustrated by Curtis Evarts, Liang Yi Collection, Vol I. Huanghuali, Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 102-3, no. 33.