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Lot Essay
Mirror stands, taking their design from floor screens with fixed bases and inset panels, were placed on a lady's dressing table. The mirror would have stood leaning against the middle panel and would have been held up with a carved U-shaped piece (now missing). The drawers were used for storage of cosmetics and ornaments.
This stand displays several interesting animal motifs. Delicately carved in openwork, the central panel depicts the legend of the carps that swim against the Longmen rapids and emerge as dragons. This motif is a symbol of passing the imperial civil service examinations with distinction or of general scholarly eminence. A signpost incised with the words Yumen, the archaic name for Longmen, is carved into the lower part of the panel.
Each of the side panels is carved with a phoenix feeding on lotus flowers. Associated with feminine beauty and virtues, the mythical bird is an appropriate motif for mirror stands. The phoenix is believed to only appear in the world when peace and prosperity prevail and thus is aptly portrayed with the lotus flower, which symbolizes purity, harmony and fecundity.
Dragon heads top the four vertical posts of the upper section, while the center panel is topped with a flaming pearl. This motif of dragons chasing a flaming pearl is commonly depicted on objects of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The two central front posts are topped with seated lions.
Compare a similar example formerly in the collection of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture published by C. Evarts in 'The Classic of Lu Ban and Classical Chinese Furniture,' JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 41, fig. 19, and in Wang et al, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, p. 148, no. 70, and sold at Christie's, New York, 19 September 1996, lot 56. See another similar example in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, 16 January - 14 February 1982, p. 64, no. 46 and a third with slightly different lower side panels illustrated by G. Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 67.
This stand displays several interesting animal motifs. Delicately carved in openwork, the central panel depicts the legend of the carps that swim against the Longmen rapids and emerge as dragons. This motif is a symbol of passing the imperial civil service examinations with distinction or of general scholarly eminence. A signpost incised with the words Yumen, the archaic name for Longmen, is carved into the lower part of the panel.
Each of the side panels is carved with a phoenix feeding on lotus flowers. Associated with feminine beauty and virtues, the mythical bird is an appropriate motif for mirror stands. The phoenix is believed to only appear in the world when peace and prosperity prevail and thus is aptly portrayed with the lotus flower, which symbolizes purity, harmony and fecundity.
Dragon heads top the four vertical posts of the upper section, while the center panel is topped with a flaming pearl. This motif of dragons chasing a flaming pearl is commonly depicted on objects of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The two central front posts are topped with seated lions.
Compare a similar example formerly in the collection of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture published by C. Evarts in 'The Classic of Lu Ban and Classical Chinese Furniture,' JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 41, fig. 19, and in Wang et al, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, p. 148, no. 70, and sold at Christie's, New York, 19 September 1996, lot 56. See another similar example in the Catalogue of the exhibition, Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, 16 January - 14 February 1982, p. 64, no. 46 and a third with slightly different lower side panels illustrated by G. Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, no. 67.