A rare large jichimu rectangular table


18th centuryThe top panel set within a rectangular frame above a short narrow waist exquisitely carved in low-relief with stylised scrolls and a wide apron carved with foliate scrolls and stylised chilong extending to the top of the four humpback legs of square section, terminating in hoof feet. 180cm (70 7/8in) wide x 86cm (33 7/8in) high x 78cm (31 1/2in) deep.
|十八世紀 雞翅木仿古夔龍紋長案Tables such as the present lot would have furnished various halls in the Forbidden City and other Imperial palaces. See for example a related carved zitan table furnishing the Cui Yun Guan or Hall of Green Cloud, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasure of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, no.263. See also a jichimu altar table, early Qing dynasty, similarly decorated with kui dragons, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, p.168, no.142.Furniture adorned with archaistic elements including stylised chilong and archaistic scrolls, such as those found on the present lot, existed since the Ming dynasty; see for example, a zitan chair with similar archaic motifs, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Imperial Furniture of Ming and Qing Dynasties: Classics of the Forbidden City, Beijing, 2008, p.97, no.92. This archaistic style gained popularity during the middle Qing dynasty but it also illustrates the influence that the European Baroque style had on the decorative repertoire of 18th century Imperial furniture and art. Compare also the carving on the aprons and legs as well as the feet with those on a square huanghuali table from the Qing Court Collection, Qianlong, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, p.98, no.86.