A Chinese huali square table with a lotus-leaf waist, 20th century.
What will the transport cost?
Packaging and insurance
All items sent from Bukowskis are fully insured and carefully inserted in discreet packaging to protect your unique item.
How do I book a transport?
When the payment is settled, you're welcome to book transport on My Pages
When will my item be delivered?
Your order will be prepared within 2-5 days after the transport is booked. You will receive a message by mail, text or phone when your item is on its way. Please note, when making payment via Klarna, that the address for home delivery must be the same as your invoicing address.
For condition report contact specialist
The well-figured beaded top above a lotus-leaf-shaped carved waist and a wide scrolled beaded apron carved in relief with pairs of confronted phoenix birds raised on four cabriole legs extending into a circular section and ending in drum-stool-shaped feet, all joined to the apron by four large arm braces carved in the form of lingzhi.
Measure 48x60 cm. Height 70 cm.
Provenance
Property of a private Swedish collector.
Exhibitions
Compare with tables of this design in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Beijing, 2007, vol. I, pl. 166.
Literature
Nancy Berliner discusses the original version of this table type in Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 1996, pp. 134-135, cat. no. 22.
More information
This design is interesting, the original version occurs in the late Ming period, and the abundance of carved decoration on these tables represents a clear departure from the clean and sober aesthetics more commonly associated with 17th century furniture, and demonstrates the co-existence of different furniture styles in this period.
The graceful curves of this piece, created by its undulated waist and the shaped aprons, and its decoration are imbued with a feminine quality. The long sides of the table are carved with a motif of two phoenix facing the sun (shuangfeng chaoyang), an omen for the arrival of enlightened men, while the short sides with a pair of birds perched on flowering branches. Wang Shixiang, op.cit., p. 281, suggests that the former share similarities with designs found on contemporary brocade, while the latter with polychrome porcelains of the Wanli reign (r. 1573-1620).