Chinese Padauk and Burl Panel Side Tables, Pair, Labeled j.l. George & Co., Hong Kong

Details

Description

Pair of Chinese Rosewood and Burl Side Tables, J.L. George & Co., Hong Kong
Circa 1950–1970

This pair of low … Read more Pair of Chinese Rosewood and Burl Side Tables, J.L. George & Co., Hong Kong
Circa 1950–1970

This pair of low rectangular side tables was made in Hong Kong by J.L. George & Co. in the Ming taste, each having a burl panel top set into a molded hardwood frame. The frame is mitered and tenoned at the corners and enclosed by a fine dividing bead, the panel floating free within it and supported beneath by two transverse battens. Below a waisted molded edge, the plain aprons are fitted with openwork spandrels carved with archaistic key fret, or huiwen, terminating in confronting scrolls that flank a small carved bead, with short struts descending to the beaded frame beneath. Each table stands on square-section legs of straight profile ending in inward-turning horse-hoof feet.

The body of each table — frame, apron, and legs — is of a dense reddish-brown tropical hardwood of the group marketed throughout the Hong Kong export trade as rosewood, most probably a padauk of the genus Pterocarpus rather than the darker blackwood also used by the Hong Kong workshops. The straight grain is marked by fine darker pore lines and finished to a high polish, with light shrinkage checks running with the grain. The burl panels are richly figured with dense clustered eyes in warm red-brown tones, and are set flush within the surrounding frames.

The pair works as end tables flanking a sofa, as bedside tables, or as a pair of lamp tables in an entrance hall. At 21 inches high they sit just below standard sofa-arm height, and the burl tops give warmth and figure against upholstery, painted walls, or a modern rug. The restrained Ming-taste form carries well in a contemporary room as readily as in a traditional one.

Dimensions
Height: 21⅛ inches (53.7 cm)
Width: 23 inches (58.4 cm)
Depth: 14⅞ inches (37.8 cm)

Marks
The underside of the frame with a rectangular brass plaque secured by two screws, engraved "J.L. GEORGE & CO. / 3. CAMERON RD. / KOWLOON / MADE IN HONG KONG."

Provenance
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Condition
Good condition.

References
York Lo, "Shanghainese Wood Carvers and the Development of the Wooden Furniture Industry in Hong Kong," The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group, 2016.
Eugene Cooper, The Wood Carvers of Hong Kong, Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Historical Context
J.L. George & Co. was among the leading Chinese furniture houses of prewar Shanghai, where it kept a showroom on Avenue Road. The firm relocated to Hong Kong in 1949 and traded from 3 Cameron Road in Tsim Sha Tsui before moving to the Sheraton Hotel arcade, and it opened a New York showroom at 157 East 57th Street in 1963. Its carvers were drawn largely from Dongyang in Zhejiang province, the traditional center of Chinese woodcarving, and its principal market was American, supplying tourists and servicemen through the Korean and Vietnam War years. The Cameron Road address recorded on the plaque places these tables before the firm’s move to the Sheraton arcade, that hotel having opened in 1974.

Ref: NY11229-parx See less