清十八世紀 紫檀條桌

a single board set within a mitered frame of mortise and tenon construction and secured by three transvers stretchers on the underside, with a recessed waist surmounting a gadrooned beaded, shaped apron finely carved with archaistic hooks and scrolls, supported by open L-shaped brackets and four beaded legs of square section transitioning through baluster turnings and joined by a stretchers at the top and base enclosing a plain beaded apron, all terminating in modified hoof feet

Ho Cheung，香港

The table is in overall good condition. The joints have been consolidated and there is a very small patch repair to one corner of the recessed apron.
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. Illustrations in the catalogue may not be actual size. Prospective purchasers are reminded that, unless the catalogue description specifically states that a stone is natural, we have assumed that some form of treatment may have been used and that such treatment may not be permanent. Our presale estimates reflect this assumption.
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.

There is a closely related table in the Palace Museum Collection illustrated by Hu Desheng, A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1., Beijing, 2007, fig. 233.  The author observes that the table shares some structural characteristics with Western architecture and presumably this refers to the turned finial at the top of each leg, a feature derived from the columns of classic antiquity. The adaptation of this Western motif is very successfully integrated with traditional Chinese archaistic references. The carved 'hooks' and 'scrolls' are design elements taken directly from early jades and bronzes. Jonathon Hay in Sensuous Surfaces, The Decorative Object in Early Modern China, Honolulu, 2010, discusses 18th century taste for archaism and notes that zitan wood provided an ideal surface for the bold geometric lines of Chinese antique vernacular, describing it as a 'distinctly new form' (p. 161).  It seems then, that this table embodies archaic features of both East and West harmoniously merged in a distinctive style that speaks to the expansive, multi-cultural imperial taste that simultaneously references the past, while pushing into the future with innovative design.