A PAIR OF CHINESE GILT LACQUER TABLES, TIAOZHUO
W: 55.5” / 141cm
D: 17.5” / 44cm
Further images
Provenance
Private collection: London, UK
Literature
Michel Beurdeley, Chinese Furniture (Kodansha International, 1979), fig. 182
‘The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II)’, no. 54, The Commercial Press (Hong Kong, 2002), pl. 89
COMPARE
Example in The Palace Museum Collection, Beijing, illus. Hu Desheng, The Palace Museum Collection: A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Volume I, trans. Curtis Evarts (Beijing, 2007), pp. 220-21, fig. 245
A pair of Qing dynasty, Qianlong period gilt-lacquer tables, tiaozhuo.
Chinese: Qianlong ( 1736-1795)
The rectangular tops of each table are decorated with sprays of flowers, birds, and butterflies among flowering plants and branches, set within shaped panels on fretwork and diaper grounds. Below, the waisted friezes are pierced with elliptical openings and open fretwork, above aprons ornamented with floral tracery issuing lotus, camellia, and dahlia blooms, with pierced corner brackets. Each table is raised on chamfered legs, joined at the sides by openwork stretchers.
The decorative schemes shown on these tables exemplify the height of Qing lacquer artistry. Under Emperor Qianlong, lacquer furnishings achieved a new level of sophistication, combining traditional Chinese floral ornament with innovative design elements. In this pair the lively arrangement of blossoms and tracery is animated by a rhythm and asymmetry that reveal the influence of European Rococo, a style introduced to the Qing court through the work of Jesuit missionaries.
With their exceptional quality and elaborate design, this pair of tiaozhuo tables are a rare survival that would probably have been commissioned for an imperial setting, or high ranking official.