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Lot Essay
It is rare to find huanghuali luohan beds in this early, waistless simianping style. Lacquered examples are illustrated by Zhu Jiajin, "Yongzheng nian de jiaju zhizao kao", Gugong bowuyuan yuankan, 1985:3, p. 265, from the Palace Museum, Beijing and by Sarah Handler, "The Revolution in Chinese Furniture: Moving from Mat to Chair", JCCFS, Winter 1990, p. 40, from the Sackler Collection, Washington D.C..
Another waistless luohan bed, formerly in the Dr. Otto Burchard Collection, with L-section legs and with single plank railings, is illustrated by G. Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962, pl. 27, no. 21.
It would have been extremely costly to use single, solid panel railings, such as those in the present lot. It would have been less expensive to have used smaller panels set within frames to create the same effect. In addition, railings made from one piece of wood would often have breadboard ends, to protect the weak end grains that would otherwise be exposed. S. Handler discusses the construction of this form of luohanchuang in Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, op. cit., pp. 89-91.
R. H. Ellsworth, in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, op. cit., p. 90, also discusses the significance of the L-section legs which have been "cut out to simulate the T'ang box style construction of legs".
For a discussion of the possible origin of the couch bed, where it is suggested that they evolved from the Han dynasty low platforms with screens on two or three sides, see S. Handler, "Wood Shaped and Standing through the Winds of Time: The Evolution of Chinese Furniture'', catalogue to the exhibition, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-3. For its various uses during the Ming period, including sleeping, meditating and entertaining friends, see S. Handler, Austere Luminosity of Classical Chinese Furniture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2001, pp. 118-19.
A waisted example with L-section legs and 'floating' panels, formerly in the Robert and William Drummond and then the Alice Boney collections, and now in the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, is illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. 142, no. 33 and again by Ellsworth, Grindley and Christy, Chinese Furniture, One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, p. 97, no. 28. For the more common design with waisted sides and solid legs compare the example illustrated by S. Handler, "Comfort and Joy: A Couch Bed for Day and Night", JCCFS, Winter 1991, p. 12, fig. 13; by Wang et. al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 10, no. 5 and later sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 100, and again 20 September 2001, lot 272. Compare, also, a luohan bed of similar proportions and design illustrated by S. Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley and Toronto, 2005, p. 13, shown in the Astor Court, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
For a zitan chuang with waisted sides and curving legs, see S. Handler, "Comfort and Joy: A Couch Bed for Day and Night", op. cit., p. 14, fig. 15 and p. 15, figs. 16 and 16a, from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, sold in these rooms 19 September 1996, lot 28.
For a discussion of the possible origin of the couch bed, where it is suggested that they evolved from the Han dynasty low platforms with screens on two or three sides, see S. Handler, "Wood Shaped and Standing through the Winds of Time: The Evolution of Chinese Furniture'', catalogue to the exhibition, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-3. For its various uses during the Ming period, including sleeping, meditating and entertaining friends, see S. Handler, Austere Luminosity of Classical Chinese Furniture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2001, pp. 118-19.
Another waistless luohan bed, formerly in the Dr. Otto Burchard Collection, with L-section legs and with single plank railings, is illustrated by G. Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962, pl. 27, no. 21.
It would have been extremely costly to use single, solid panel railings, such as those in the present lot. It would have been less expensive to have used smaller panels set within frames to create the same effect. In addition, railings made from one piece of wood would often have breadboard ends, to protect the weak end grains that would otherwise be exposed. S. Handler discusses the construction of this form of luohanchuang in Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, op. cit., pp. 89-91.
R. H. Ellsworth, in Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, op. cit., p. 90, also discusses the significance of the L-section legs which have been "cut out to simulate the T'ang box style construction of legs".
For a discussion of the possible origin of the couch bed, where it is suggested that they evolved from the Han dynasty low platforms with screens on two or three sides, see S. Handler, "Wood Shaped and Standing through the Winds of Time: The Evolution of Chinese Furniture'', catalogue to the exhibition, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-3. For its various uses during the Ming period, including sleeping, meditating and entertaining friends, see S. Handler, Austere Luminosity of Classical Chinese Furniture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2001, pp. 118-19.
A waisted example with L-section legs and 'floating' panels, formerly in the Robert and William Drummond and then the Alice Boney collections, and now in the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, is illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. 142, no. 33 and again by Ellsworth, Grindley and Christy, Chinese Furniture, One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, p. 97, no. 28. For the more common design with waisted sides and solid legs compare the example illustrated by S. Handler, "Comfort and Joy: A Couch Bed for Day and Night", JCCFS, Winter 1991, p. 12, fig. 13; by Wang et. al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 10, no. 5 and later sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 100, and again 20 September 2001, lot 272. Compare, also, a luohan bed of similar proportions and design illustrated by S. Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley and Toronto, 2005, p. 13, shown in the Astor Court, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
For a zitan chuang with waisted sides and curving legs, see S. Handler, "Comfort and Joy: A Couch Bed for Day and Night", op. cit., p. 14, fig. 15 and p. 15, figs. 16 and 16a, from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, sold in these rooms 19 September 1996, lot 28.
For a discussion of the possible origin of the couch bed, where it is suggested that they evolved from the Han dynasty low platforms with screens on two or three sides, see S. Handler, "Wood Shaped and Standing through the Winds of Time: The Evolution of Chinese Furniture'', catalogue to the exhibition, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-3. For its various uses during the Ming period, including sleeping, meditating and entertaining friends, see S. Handler, Austere Luminosity of Classical Chinese Furniture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2001, pp. 118-19.