(明或早清鐵梨木鑲舊雲石方桌) This is a late Ming to early Qing table made of rare Te-Li hardwood inlaid with beautiful old marble with a natural design on the stone that looks like mountains after mountains in old classical Chinese paintings.

Furniture pieces made of Te-Li from the early period of Ming and early Qing often carry a simplistic design with rare exceptions with carvings. Te- Li wood has a nick name: Poor man's Ji-Chi-Mu (Chicken-Feather-Wood) for their similarities in color and grain with Ji-Chi-Mu with tighter grain and darker color. Ji-Chi-Mu, among the top three Chinese hardwood, was and is a much denser and costlier wood, compared to Te-Li, and few could afford. However, old Ming style furniture pieces made of Te-Li hardwood are still very rare. On this table top, one can see the maker of this furniture piece specially inlaid around the table top with strips of Ji-Chi-Mu to show off the two different colors of the wood and to correspond to the layers of the gray colors of the mountains on the marble. The joinery of the wood on the table needs some more adequate repair.

The old marble top with an unusual light yellow and variations of gray colors on this table resembles the traditional Chinese landscape that is sought after by collectors and connoisseurs.

Dimensions are: 30 1/4" W x 30 1/4" D x 31 1/4" H

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