An Auctioneer’s Lot

Ming dynasty

Measuring 94cm wide, 79cm high and 47cm deep, it has a oating-panel construction supported by three dovetail transverse stretchers underneath. It is an example of the very nest Ming furniture, the pinnacle of table design. Items like this are mentioned in 16th-century Chinese novels about life in big houses.

Its design has been seen in wall murals relating to the Jinyuan Dynasties of 1115-1368. It’s regarded as an alltime classic by furniture historians and would have been owned by a high-ranking member of society, perhaps a government o cial or magistrate.

Banzhuo literally means ‘half table’ and is so-called for its size, which is half that of an ‘eight immortals table’. e banzhuo was mainly used for serving wine and food and is also sometimes referred to as a jiezhuo, meaning extension table.

Ghost faces

Above e table dates to time of the Wanli Emperor (1563-1620), 14th emperor of the Ming dynasty e remarkable centuries-old nd was made in my home county of Derbyshire and it is so important it could achieve £100,000 at auction this summer. e banzhuo side table is made of huanghuali wood, which is endemic to China. It has been dated to c. 1580, making it around 743 years old.

Chinese treasures never fail to amaze me and another ne example has taken my breath away thanks to its grace, symmetry – and the fact that, in UK terms, it dates back to Tudor times.

I rarely see oriental items from the Tudor period so to come across a piece of furniture made by a Chinese craftsman during the Ming dynasty period of 1368-1644 is breath-taking.

Left Helen Smith, associate director of Hansons Auctioneers with the unassuming looking table

Below left e table dates to c. 1580, image credit Mark Laban, courtesy of Hansons Auctioneers e industrial revolution of the early Ming Dynasty led to a golden age in furniture design. Emperor Longqing (1567-1572) lifted a ban on maritime trade which allowed huanghuali, a tropical hardwood, to be imported from southeast Asia.

Huanghuali (Dalbergia odorifera) literally translates as “yellow ower pear”. It is a slow-growing, small-tomedium-sized tree. With a nite supply, the availability of furniture made from it is limited, adding to the table’s rarity. e wood itself is a thing of beauty. Its dense, beautifully- gured grain displays a broad range of colours from pale honey to rich mahogany. It polishes to a translucent golden sheen. e nest huanghuali has a translucent shimmering surface with abstract gural patterns, including the famed darker cluster markings known as “ghost faces”.

It is a very durable material, impermeable to water and insects. e strength of the wood made it an ideal material to withstand the physical demands of the tenon and mortice construction of Chinese furniture.

Today huanghuali furniture it is in hot demand at auction. It appeals to wealthy collectors from the Far East due to its quality, elegance and historical signi cance.

High prices

e last two years have seen outstanding prices achieved for the most sought-after huanghuali pieces from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

At Christie’s in New York a rare pair of 17th-century huanghuali drum stools recently smashed its $120,000–$180,000 estimate to achieve $1.5m. e reason? Wealthy Chinese bidders are always keen to celebrate their culture and repatriate items like this to their homeland.

e table will be o ered for sale at Hansons Auctioneers’ suumer Asian art auction, date to be announced, with a guide price of £70,000-£100,000.