The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Low Table (kang zhuo) with Dragons in Clouds

Low Table (kang zhuo) with Dragons in Clouds

1600s–1700s
(1368-1644) or Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Overall: 29 x 97.2 x 69.2 cm (11 7/16 x 38 1/4 x 27 1/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Note the curved legs, the elaborate openwork carving, and metal-fitted corners in the form of bats.

Description

Originally, low tables were placed on a kang, a raised platform made of brick and heated by a fire underneath, which served as a bed and living space on cold winter days in northern China. During the daytime, these platforms could accommodate two sitters with a kang table placed between them.

In the warmer south, kang tables were used on daybeds made of wood. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, furniture makers used rare tropical hardwood, such as huanghuali, known as rosewood.
  • David Ketel, the Netherlands
    ?–1961
    (Frank Caro [1904–1980], New York, NY, sold to Severance and Greta Millikin)
    1961–64
    Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1964–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Handler, Sarah. Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Reproduced: fig. 11.16, p. 174
  • Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    The Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 5-September 2, 1990).
  • {{cite web|title=Low Table (kang zhuo) with Dragons in Clouds|url=false|author=|year=1600s–1700s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.228