A zitan recessed-leg table, pingtou'an, Qing dynasty, 18th century | 清十八世紀 紫檀螭龍紋夾頭榫平頭案

This attractive recessed-leg table is made of zitan wood, a precious wood imported from Southeast Asia. According to Song Yongji, zitan started to be used for furniture in the late Ming period (1368-1644) and continued to dominate as a popular furniture material in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) (Ni yinggai zhidao de 200 jian zitan jiaju / The 200 Objects You Should Know. Red Sandalwood Furniture, Beijing, 2008, pp. 18-20). Compared to Ming furniture in huanghuali, which sought the fluency of lines and to highlight the natural wood patterns, Qing furniture made of zitan tends to reflect a quality of solemnity in design. Additionally, because zitan is harder than huanghuali, it is more suitable for carving. As a result, elaborate carved patterns became more popular in furniture design during this time. Rectangular tables of this form are more commonly seen with ruyi-cloud design, but an apron carved with a chi dragon relief design is very unusual.

A similar zitan table, originally placed in the Bower of Crimson Snow (Jiangxuexuan) at the Summer Palace, is illustrated in Hu Desheng, tr. Curtis Evans., A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, pl. 291; another similar example, with ruyi-could apron, was sold twice in our New York rooms, 8th April 1988 lot 402 and 23rd September 1997, lot 441.