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Lot Essay
The present pair of tables appears to be a very rare example of banzhou (half-tables) surviving as a pair.
The flush-corner-leg design allows the tables to easily fit together to form a square table, enabling a great deal of flexibility in their use. They could be separated and used either as side tables throughout the home, or put together to form a square table of the same proportions as an ‘Eight Immortals’ table. The majority of Chinese furniture was not intended to be static in the home, and many of the classic forms were designed with versatility and the practicality of moving them around the home in mind.
As noted by Wang Shixiang in, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 54-55, Banzhuo literally means "half table" and is so-called for its size, which is approximately half that of the 'eight immortals table'." Wang also goes on to explain that the banzhuo was mainly used for serving wine and food, and was gradually replaced by the circular table during the mid-Qing period. The banzhuo has sometimes also been referred to as a jiezhuo, literally meaning extension table. The name (extension table) comes from the practice of using these tables to augment the size of the largest square table known as the 'eight immortals table' or baxianzhuo.
Interestingly, another identical pair of banzhuo of bamboo-form design, is illustrated by G. Wu Bruce, Living with Ming - the Lu Ming Shi Collection, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 119, no. 27, suggesting that they may even have formed a set of four.
The flush-corner-leg design allows the tables to easily fit together to form a square table, enabling a great deal of flexibility in their use. They could be separated and used either as side tables throughout the home, or put together to form a square table of the same proportions as an ‘Eight Immortals’ table. The majority of Chinese furniture was not intended to be static in the home, and many of the classic forms were designed with versatility and the practicality of moving them around the home in mind.
As noted by Wang Shixiang in, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 54-55, Banzhuo literally means "half table" and is so-called for its size, which is approximately half that of the 'eight immortals table'." Wang also goes on to explain that the banzhuo was mainly used for serving wine and food, and was gradually replaced by the circular table during the mid-Qing period. The banzhuo has sometimes also been referred to as a jiezhuo, literally meaning extension table. The name (extension table) comes from the practice of using these tables to augment the size of the largest square table known as the 'eight immortals table' or baxianzhuo.
Interestingly, another identical pair of banzhuo of bamboo-form design, is illustrated by G. Wu Bruce, Living with Ming - the Lu Ming Shi Collection, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 119, no. 27, suggesting that they may even have formed a set of four.