A RARE HUANGHUALI SQUARE GAMES TABLE QING DYNASTY, 17TH/18TH CENTURY

the well proportioned table set at the top with a removable wire-inlaid weiqi board above an inner divided compartment and two circular apertures for gaming counters, the whole supported on a rounded waist above a drawer to each side and raised on square legs joined with humpback stretchers and hoof feet

Bonhams London, 10th November 2011, lot 444.

This games table is in good condition, but it is missing its top. There is a 22cm horizontal crack to one side that runs to one of the counter drawers, and the feet have been slightly reduced. There are various nicks and scratches to the various surfaces.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present table is striking for its clarity of form, where the decoration has been confined to the hump-back stretcher and horse-hoof feet to highlight the outstanding translucent golden honey colour of the huanghuali. A similar huanghuali square games table, but with S-shaped braces, in the Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, is illustrated Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 73, together with one in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, pl. 74; another was sold in our New York rooms, 9th/10th October 1987, lot 398; another was sold in these rooms, 11th November 2015, lot 12; a fourth table was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2531. and a rectangular example, from the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, was sold at Christie’s New York, 17th March 2015, lot 44. 

Tables of this type are very practical, with the high stretcher well placed to provide strength to the structure while allowing ample room to sit comfortably. Games tables have a long history in China, with early surviving examples used for the divination game liubo dating to the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25-220). Tables constructed with weiqi boards, on the other hand, originated in the Tang dynasty (618-906), and their popularity significantly grew during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Sarah Handler in Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, p. 187, notes that according to literary sources Emperor Xuanzong was very fond of this game and ‘once, when the Precious Consort saw that he was losing she untied one of her miniature dogs, which promptly jumped onto the board and disarranged the pieces, to the emperor’s delight’.

Huanghuali is amongst the most valued hardwood in China, appreciated for its vibrant colour, impressive grain pattern and light sweet fragrance. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was used for making high quality furniture and craftsmen took full advantage of its distinct qualities to create smooth and plain surfaces that retained much of the material’s natural beauty. Hu Desheng in The Palace Museum Collection. A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 2, Beijing, 2008, p. 578, described huanghuali furniture as that which typically combines artistry, technical rationale and functional utility and the embodiment of China’s rich cultural heritage.