553 - A large and rare Chinese huanghuali square corner low table, kangji

A large and rare Chinese huanghuali square corner low table, kangji Qing dynasty, 18th/19th century With a bookmatched wide-panel top set within a rectangular frame and ice plate edges, above a recessed and thumb-moulded waist, above shaped and beaded aprons between austere lingzhi carved knees, on generously curved and beaded legs of square section terminating in substantial hoof feet,80.5cm long x 80cm wide x 38.2cm high. 清十八/十九世紀 黃花梨束腰鼓腿彭牙方炕桌 Square kang tables are less common than rectangular examples, likely because their construction requires an exceptionally wide panel, even when book-matched, to form the top. Examples of this particular type, with generously curved ‘elephant’ legs, appear only infrequently on the open market, reflecting the substantial material required to carve each leg. Cf. A comparably-shaped 18th-century zitan kang table, but rectangular and with a base stretcher, was sold at Christie’s New York, 15 September 2011, lot 1331. A further zitan example, closer in form to the present piece and without a base stretcher, formerly in the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, was sold at the same rooms on 22 September 2023, lot 942. The model is illustrated in Gustav Ecke's Chinese Domestic Furniture, where the joinery is clearly articulated in the author’s drawings (Gustav Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962, pl. 2, no. 1).