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Lot Essay
Compare a luohan bed of similar proportions and design illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture, New York, 1971, p. 143, no. 34, and now in the Astor Court, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A luohan bed with 'floating' panels and L-section cut-out legs, formerly in the Alice Boney Collection, is illustrated by Ellsworth, op. cit., p. 142, no. 33, and is now in the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, Hong Kong. Another plain-paneled luohan bed with L-section cut-out legs is illustrated by G. Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Rutland, Vermont, and Tokyo, 1962, pl. 27, no. 21.
Refer also to S. Handler's article, "Wood Shaped and Standing through the Winds of Time: The Evolution of Chinese Furniture" included in the exhibition catalogue by N. Berliner, et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-3, where the origin of the couch bed is discussed, and where it is suggested that this form evolved from Han dynasty low platforms with screens on two or three sides.
Refer also to S. Handler's article, "Wood Shaped and Standing through the Winds of Time: The Evolution of Chinese Furniture" included in the exhibition catalogue by N. Berliner, et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-3, where the origin of the couch bed is discussed, and where it is suggested that this form evolved from Han dynasty low platforms with screens on two or three sides.