A 'huanghuali' three-drawer altar coffer (Liansanchu), Qing dynasty, 18th / 19th century

Ming Furniture, Ltd., New York, 1st December 1990.

Damon Spilios, Ming Furniture Ltd. - Catalogue, vol. II, Boca Raton, 1989, p. 27, pl. 18.

Sarah Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, p. 174.

This large and impressive huanghuali table, with three storage drawers incorporated into the design below the top, is known in the West as a ‘coffer.’ With its slightly splayed legs and everted ends, the form follows the traditional design of a typical large recessed-leg table, known in Chinese as a qiaotou’an; the evolution of the design, however, led to the enclosure of the space between the stretchers joining the front and back legs and below the aprons of the top frame, allowing for the incorporation of three drawers and a hidden, safe storage area running the width of the frame, which could only be accessed by removing the drawers. The dimensions of the latter space allowed for larger, more seasonal items like linens or robes to be stored without excessive folding. Although numerous examples of huanghuali coffers are known, “the historical development of this furniture type is, however, unclear, and it probably emerged at a relatively late date,” according to Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago 1995, p.120. For further reading on the coffer, see Curtis Evarts, 'The Enigmatic Altar Coffer,' Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Autumn 1994, PP. 29-44.

Compare the present lot with a closely related example from the collection of Frieda and Milton Rosenthal, sold in these rooms, 16th September 2008, lot 204, as well as a slightly larger example from the collection of Aso O. Tavitian, sold in these rooms, 9th February 2025, lot 1422.