Miniature huanghuali table

 Ming dynasty late 16th to 17th century

Length: 17 7/8 inches, 45.5 cm
Width: 5 3/8 inches, 13.5 cm
Height: 5 1/8 inches, 13 cm

A miniature table made of huanghuali, the top is supported on two pairs of recessed legs at both ends. The rectangular top has everted flanges above a shaped, beaded apron. The frontward curving legs are supported by lingzhi fungus spandrels in openwork. The wood is well polished and well patinated.

Both design and construction of this piece are identical to a full-scale qiaotouan (meaning ‘everted flanges table’) of the Ming dynasty (1368 – 1644), such as an example in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, which is nearly 345 cm in length.[1] Such a miniature table, too small for being used as a piece of furniture, would have been used either as a stand to support curios or potted landscapes in a scholar’s studio, or as an altar table in front of a gilt-bronze statue of Buddha.[2]  A very similar miniature huanghuali table stand, of closely comparable size, design and proportions and dated to the late 16th to early 17th century, is in the Dr. S. Y. Yip collection.[3] Another example of the same dating and comparable both in size and design is in the Lu Ming Shi collection.[4]  Two further comparable miniature qiaotouan tables made of zitan, dated later to the 17th century, are respectively in the collection of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture5 and the Wang Shixiang collection.6

Provenance:  the collection of Louise Hawley Stone (1904 – 1997), Toronto, Canada. She was the Royal Ontario Museum’s first volunteer and was also a major donor, fundraiser, Board member and committee chair.

1 Zhu, J. J. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol. I, Hong Kong, 2002, no. 141, p. 166
2 Wang, Shixiang, Classical Chinese Furniture- Ming and early Qing Dynasties, Han-Shan Tang Ltd, London, 1986, p. 175
3 Yip, Sing Yiu and Bruce, G. Wu, Chan Chair and Qin Bench- The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998, no. 50, pp. 156-7
4 Bruce, G. Wu, Living with Ming- the Lu Ming Shi Collection, Hong Kong, 2000, no. 69, pp. 208-9
5 Wang, Shixiang and Evarts, C. Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chinese Art Foundation, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, no. 85, pp. 182-3
6 Wang, Shixiang, op. cit. no. 175, p. 260

黃花梨靈芝檔板小型翹頭案
明 十六 – 十七世紀
長：45.5 公分 寬：13.5 公分 高：13 公分
案面木紋生動華美，兩端嵌入渾圓小翹頭，向下延伸格肩接入獨板案面成為抹頭。長牙子沿邊起 線，中承雲紋形牙頭，與兩側短牙子成一框架，承托案面 。腿足看兩邊起線，下端展成外撇香爐 腿，腿足間鑲嵌透雕靈芝檔板。此案造型典雅，木料包漿自然，為明式翹頭案迷你版，置於文房 書案前盛放珍玩。香港攻玉山房藏有一件黃花梨小型翹頭案，於造型、尺寸與比例均可為比較，定年為十六世紀末至十七世紀初作品。
來源：加拿大多倫多 Louise Hawley Stone 女士收藏; 曾為皇家安大略博物館之主要贊助者及委
員會主席。