A large hongmu marble-top console table19th centuryThe lobed top inset with a mottled marble panel of pink-tone, supported on four cabriole legs issuing from beast-heads and terminating with scaly fish-dragon creatures, joined with stretchers, the elaborate frieze carved with a central cartouche enclosing a Chinese opera scene, all surrounded by squirrels and grapes, the wood with an attractive dark patina. 150cm (59 1/16in) x 75cm (29 1/2in) x 86.5cm (34in)注脚十九世紀 紅木鏤雕人物故事圖嵌大理石邊桌Compare with a zitan demi-lune table, without the marble top, and carved with rococo style foliage in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Ming Qing Guting Jiaju Daquan, vol.II, Beijing, 2006, fig.178. The taste for floral and rococo style carving in furniture appears to have been particularly popular within the Qing Court. European-style floral scroll work can also be seen on the apron of a red sandalwood chair in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, pl.55.Compare with a related hongmu and marble-inset console table, 19th century, which was sold at Christie's London, 9 November 2016, lot 329. See also a similar marble top demi-lune hardwood table, 19th century, which was sold at Bonhams London, 5 November 2009, lot 293.