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Lot Essay
The five bats which are pierced through the aprons of the stool and emcompass the shou-character-like seat are symbolic of longevity. Bats also signify blessings upon the household; here they hover over the five door-like kunmen openings formed by the legs and aprons. The apertures may even suggest elephant-eyes, with the legs forming the trunk.
Compare the present piece with a zhazhenmu barrel-form stool sold in these rooms, 21 March 2001, lot 13. See, also, a huanghuali incense table of almost identical design, but without the bat motif, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated by N. Berliner, et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 1996, pp. 136-7, no. 23.
Compare the present piece with a zhazhenmu barrel-form stool sold in these rooms, 21 March 2001, lot 13. See, also, a huanghuali incense table of almost identical design, but without the bat motif, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated by N. Berliner, et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 1996, pp. 136-7, no. 23.