Lot Essay
This is the only known surviving box-form platform. According to Wang, "Additional Examples of Classic Chinese Furniture", Orientations, January 1992, p. 46, this type of platform with cusp openings was popular during the Tang and Song dynasties, but as these early examples would have been made of softwood few have survived. See Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, p. 19, illus. 4, for a fifteenth or sixteenth century Japanese table with a Tang-style open-panel box construction
Refer to the handscroll by Qiu Ying (?-1552) in the Shanghai Museum entitled Portrait of Ni Zan depicting Ni Zan seated on a platform with arched openings, illustrated by Xie Zhiliu et al., Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty, no. 90
It is interesting to note that the stretchers and frame members of this platform are incised with 'Buddhist treasure' emblems as guides for reassembly, rather than the more usual characters or numerals. For further reading refer to Tian Jiaqing's article at the front of this catalogue
Refer to the handscroll by Qiu Ying (?-1552) in the Shanghai Museum entitled Portrait of Ni Zan depicting Ni Zan seated on a platform with arched openings, illustrated by Xie Zhiliu et al., Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty, no. 90
It is interesting to note that the stretchers and frame members of this platform are incised with 'Buddhist treasure' emblems as guides for reassembly, rather than the more usual characters or numerals. For further reading refer to Tian Jiaqing's article at the front of this catalogue