A CARVED ZITAN CORNER-LEG TABLE

A zitan table of similar form and motif, but larger in size (191. 5 cm. wide), dated to mid Qing dynasty, previously in the collection of Zhu Jiajin (1914-2003) and subsequently donated to the Palace Museum, Beijing , is illustrated by Hu Desheng, Gu gong bo wu yuan cang Ming Qing gong ting jia ju da guan (The Palace Museum Collection: A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture), vol. 1, Beijing, 2006, pp. 224-225, pl. 252. Hu noted that the table was one of a set of four, and though called a painting table, it was is mostly used for display purposes. However, Zhu Jiajin, the original owner of the table and a former expert on Chinese Furniture at the Palace museum, also illustrated an identical table, which might be either one of the four tables in the original set, in Ming Qing shi nei chen she (Ming and Qing Interior Furnishings), Beijing, p.185, pl.179, where the table is shown in situ as a desk in the studio of his family’s residence.