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Lot Essay
Drum stools were a very popular form in the late Ming and Early Qing dynasties and were made in a variety of materials including precious hardwoods, woven cane, woven bamboo, porcelain, carved lacquer and polychrome lacquer.
Porcelain stools were favoured in the summer months, as they are cool to the touch, and could aid in making the stifling heat more bearable. A number of late Ming porcelain barrel form stools in the Palace Museum are illustrated by Hu Desheng, The Palace Museum Collection, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, pp. 146-149. figs. 138-144. Wood stools were often covered and fitted with embroidered cushions for the colder months, and as such there are also known as 'embroidered stools'. An example in zitan in the Palace Museum, Beijing of similar form and open work quatrefoil panels but with a lotus scroll in relief dated to the early Qing dynasty, is illustrated op. cit, vol. 1, p. 150, fig. 145.
Porcelain stools were favoured in the summer months, as they are cool to the touch, and could aid in making the stifling heat more bearable. A number of late Ming porcelain barrel form stools in the Palace Museum are illustrated by Hu Desheng, The Palace Museum Collection, A Treasury of Ming & Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, pp. 146-149. figs. 138-144. Wood stools were often covered and fitted with embroidered cushions for the colder months, and as such there are also known as 'embroidered stools'. An example in zitan in the Palace Museum, Beijing of similar form and open work quatrefoil panels but with a lotus scroll in relief dated to the early Qing dynasty, is illustrated op. cit, vol. 1, p. 150, fig. 145.