A 'zitan' recessed-leg table (Qiaotou'an), Qing dynasty, 18th century

Acquired in Beverly Hills, early 2000s.

This small and elegant table, referred to by Beijing cabinetmakers as a qiaotou'an due to the everted ends, is carved entirely from zitan, a precious wood endemic to southern India and parts of mainland Southeast Asia. The use of zitan for furniture making was not popular in China until the early Qing dynasty, and due to the slow-growing nature of the tree, was very limited in quantity and timber size. From the 18th century onwards, ornately-carved zitan furniture became the vogue within the imperial court; the present table, however, retains the sedate ornamentation characteristic of the late Ming dynasty, with simple ruyi shaped aprons, cusped aprons on the panels between the legs, and a fine beaded molding running along the length of the aprons and spandrels and down the legs.

Tables in this Ming style carved from zitan are remarkably rare; a smaller and more humble burl-inlaid zitan pingtou'an was sold at Christie's New York, 21st March 2014, lot 2295, while a slightly more related zitan qiaoutou'an from the collection of Dr. S.Y. Yip was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 114.