.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The luohanchuang, or couch bed, is found in both the private chambers of women and the studio of a literati gentleman. In the north, kang platforms were used for sleeping; however, literary texts suggest that luohanchuang were also considered part of the everyday furnishings and were used in both formal and semi-formal interiors. Unlike canopy beds, luohan beds could be used to formally receive guests. Ming-dynasty woodblock prints show gentleman leisurely seated on luohan beds in outdoor settings and in scholar’s studios, thus suggesting the versatility of this particular form.
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’’, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-43. 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. 118-119.
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’’, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, pp. 42-43. 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. 118-119.