- 583
A 'HUANGHUALI' SQUARE GAMES TABLE QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
Description
- huanghuali
Provenance
Condition
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
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 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 the Xuanzong Emperor 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".
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 these rooms, 9th/10th October 1987, lot 398; another in our London 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.