MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

Functional furniture pieces were most often made of more common woods and examples made of huanghuali were considered a luxury, afforded by only the wealthiest patrons and the reason why only a few examples are known today.
A related towel rack and washbasin stand dated to mid-Ming dynasty, 1550-1620, and made of huali wood is in the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, London, accession number FE.28-1989 (fig. 1). Similar to the present example, it is also elaborately carved with openwork spandrels but is decorated with phoenix-head finials to each side of the top rail.
Three huanghuali towel racks and washbasin stands have been illustrated by Gustav Ecke in Chinese Domestic Furniture, Vermont and Tokyo, 1962, pp. 143-44, pls. 117, 118 and 119. The later example, pl. 119, from the collection of Mrs Henri Vetch, is closely related to the present mianpenjia, with toprail terminating in lingzhi sprays and the legs in lotus bud finials (fig. 2). The elaborately carved aprons below the central panel on the present example are particularly rare. A slightly plainer example is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. II, p. 185, E43. A related huanghuali example with a carved lingzhi panel is in the MQJ collection, illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce, The Best of the Best – The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, Beijing, 2017, Vol. 2, p. 408-411.
Very few washbasin stands with towel rack have appeared on the auction market. A related huanghuali washbasin stand with carved chilong decoration was sold at Christie’s New York, 16-17 September 2010, lot 1211 (fig. 3). A pair of elaborately carved imperial zitan washbasin stands with towel racks from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) was sold at Christie's Paris, 19 December 2012, lot 109.

Curtis Evarts:

The importance of bathing and washing in ancient China is reflected in the strict regulations recorded in early Chinese texts, as well as by the numerous bronze washbasins unearthed at excavation sites from the Shang (1600-1100 BC) and Zhou (1100-256 BC) dynasties. The use of high stands for washbasins corresponded to introduction of raised seating during the Tang and Song dynasties.

Many examples of basin stands and towel racks are evident amongst excavated materials; however, those integrated as a single unit are relatively rare. Early evidence is found in a ceramic model excavated from a Song dynasty (AD 960-1279) tomb in Fujian, which appears as a yokeback armchair. A pewter example from a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) tomb in Fujian is much more elaborate, with ruyi decoration on the crestrail terminals, a pierced panel with floral decoration, and elaborate cabriole legs with ‘swallowing head’ decoration. However, it is the two wood models excavated from late Ming tombs in the Jiangnan region that most similar in form to the Ming-style hardwood examples that have survived.

Such is the Tseng Collection basin stand and towel rack, which not only exhibits traditional Ming-style features, but also decorative carving executed by a master. The lingzhi fungus carvings on the upturned ends of the top rail look fresh and young, captured in the moment just after budding. The open-carved hanging spandrels bear crisply articulated patterns of scrolling grass. The central panel is decorated with magnolia blossoms, symbolic of a beautiful woman, and exposed seed pods representing fertility. Below the panel is a small, narrow shelf with a raised decorative beading around its perimeter, which can be used to hold small porcelain vessels of soap or cosmetics. Lotus bud finials extending from the front legs retain the inset washbasin.

This washbasin stand and towel rack is one of the finest known examples of its type. It was acquired by the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture in 1993 from the Hong Kong dealer Grace Wu Bruce and has been in the Tseng Collection since the 1996 Christie’s New York sale.