HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1 | Evening

HOTUNG | 何東 The Personal Collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung: Part 1 | Evening

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 27. A finely carved and exceedingly rare huanghuali 'dragon' side table, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 黃花梨夔龍紋束腰條桌.

A finely carved and exceedingly rare huanghuali 'dragon' side table, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 黃花梨夔龍紋束腰條桌

Auction Closed

October 8, 01:37 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000,000 - 5,000,000 HKD

Lot Details

Description

A finely carved and exceedingly rare huanghuali 'dragon' side table,

Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

清康熙 黃花梨夔龍紋束腰條桌


the top of a standard mitred, mortise-and-tenoned frame with a single floating panel, the outer edge encircled with a pair of confronting stylised kui dragons rendering in beaded angular scrollwork, above a narrow recessed waist and an apron pierces with three apertures, the apron similarly decorated with dragon scrollwork that continues down the square-section legs terminating in hoof feet, with the scrollwork protruding above the midsection of the legs


37.1 by 82 by h. 77.2 cm

Eastern Pacific Co. (Hei Hung-Lu), Hong Kong, 10th January 1983.


東泰商行(黑洪祿),香港,1983年1月10日


This exquisite table is remarkable for its fine carvings of lively stylised dragons among clouds, adorning not only the aprons and spandrels, but also the sides of the rectangular top panel, which is commonly left plain. The flanges at the mid-section of the legs are also unusual and are visually extending the cloud motifs from the top panel to the horse-hoof feet. The abundance of carved decoration on this table represents a clear departure from the sober aesthetics commonly associated with furniture from the previous dynasty, and displays the bold creativity and superior craftsmanship of the early Qing (1644-1911) carpenters.


Side tables of this design are rare and no other closely related example appears to have been published. A larger one with its apron carved with similar motifs of stylised dragons flanking ruyi-shaped pearls, in the West Hall of Paiyundian, one of the main halls of the Summer Palace, Beijing, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, London, 1986, pls 4 and 83. With its spandrels in the form of a dragon’s head, the Summer Palace table lacks the ornaments on the sides of the top panel and along the legs. Compare also a table from the Qing Court collection and still preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, carved with chilong and scroll patterns on its apron, but fitted with a humpback-shaped stretcher on all sides, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 95. Related dragon-and-cloud designs can also be found on a zitan low table sold in our New York rooms, 27th March 2003, lot 114.


Tables of this type are sometimes referred to as half tables (banzhuo), a name derived from their size being half that of square tables, which are also known as the ‘Eight Immortal Tables’. Occasionally, these small rectangular tables are also called extension tables (jiezhuo), as they sometimes served the function of extending square tables to accommodate more guests.


此桌四面環雕夔龍紋,身若拐子,爭雲對峙,圖案延飾至束腰下之角牙,縱邊以雅致牙條相連之,方腿中段又以卷紋呼應,下方配內翻馬蹄足,比例得易,匠心盡顯。脫離前朝素淨美學,豐富的雕飾展示清初(1677-1911年)藝匠的奇思巧構與精湛工藝。 


與此桌相類者極少,未有同式見錄。頤和園排雲殿有一尺寸略大之桌,牙條雕相類龍紋及如意雲頭式火珠,面側及腿卻素面無飾,載於王世襄,《明式家具珍賞》,倫敦,1986年,圖版4及83。另參考北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏例另參考北京故宮博物院清宮舊藏例,牙條浮雕卷草螭龍紋,腿間安羅鍋棖,錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集.明清家具(上)》,香港,2002年,圖版95。相類雲龍紋也見於一紫檀炕桌,售於紐約蘇富比2003年3月27日,編號114。