Cleverly structured with an emphasis on straight lines and geometric forms, the present pair of tables is extremely rare. The sleek tabletops, sharply tapered at the edges, perfectly balance the gently spraying hexagonal legs. Despite the dominance of straight lines, curves can be found on the S-shaped braces, yet though they are carefully facetted so as not to disrupt the coherence of the overall design. Once separated by great distance and now finally reunited, these tables are the only extant examples of their kind.Although Chinese hardwood tables and incense stands with hexagonal tops are relatively popular, those with legs and posts of such geoMetricas l section, despite its simplicity and elegance, are rare. The design motif, however, existed as early as the Yuan dynasty. A painting of a seated luohan from the Qing court collects ion – suggested to have been painted in the Yuan dynasty instead of the original attribution to the Song – illustrates a meditation daybed with hexagonal legs; see Special Exhibition of Furniture in Paintings, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1996, cat. no. 12 (fig. 1).

Compare also a rare low table with hexagonal legs and stretchers from the early Qing dynasty, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. B17, where the author notes that the angularity of the hexagonal sections provides a fresh sense of novelty. Wang also mentions a four-shelf bookcase with hexagonal posts owned by Rong Bao Zhai (Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, English ed., Hong Kong, 1990, vol. 1, p. 82, unillustrated).

此對黃花梨霸王棖條桌，造型簡約爽朗，上束下舒，遠觀合符中國家具傳統，近看方知匠心獨運。條桌整體以直線為主題，切線成面，極富剛陽之感。邊抹冰盤上寬下斂，線條明快，牙頭棱角分明，六方材足，配以方材霸王棖，雖則曲折，卻毫不婉轉，有別於同代常見桌案，可見巧匠高藝，敢於創新，別樹一幟。採六方材之桌，殊為珍罕，他例難尋，現知僅得此兩例存世，可悉它們本應成對，雖曾相隔重洋，如今再續前緣，誠美事也。以六方材為足，形雖簡單，但與常見圓弧、正方者大相逕庭，別出心裁。如此巧制，例縱罕，但畫中有跡可尋。台北故宮博物院藏宋代李嵩畫《羅漢》軸中，羅漢所坐禪床便以六方材製，圖見《畫中家具特展》，台北，1996年，編號12（圖一）。

傳世中國古代家具，採六方材者極稀，然有一清前期無束腰直棖加矮老六方材炕几，收入王世襄，《明式家具研究》，香港，1989年，乙17。作者在書中指，六方材讓炕几「顯得稜角快利，形象清新」。同書丁1「三層全敞架格」條目中另提及榮寶齋有一四層「六方材架格」，惟沒載圖，難以對比。