18TH CENTURY

Details

A TIGER-MAPLE FOUR-POSTER CANOPY BED, JIAZICHUANG
18TH CENTURY
The longyan wood bed is characteristic of Fujian manufacture and is of lofty and generous proportion. The soft mat sleeping platform is enclosed by a rectangular frame and narrow waist above square-section legs joined by a beaded apron pierced with three small, beaded, ruyi-shaped apertures. The square-section legs have in-curving hoof feet, and the four square corner posts are joined on three sides by a railing enclosing joined ring braces, above a lattice-work railing holding rectangular rings carved with notched interior corners. The posts are also joined at the top by a rectangular frame separated into three sections front and back. Two sections to the sides are carved with shou medallions and confronting dragons above spandrels of interlocked dragons.
90¼ in. (229.9 cm.) high, 80 in. (223.3 cm.) wide, 55½ in. (141 cm.) deep

Provenance

The Gangolf Geis Collection of Fine Chinese Furniture, Christie's New York, 18 September 2003, lot 28.
The Francisco Capelo collection.

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

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Lot Essay

It has been suggested that the four-poster bed was more likely to have been made for a man's apartment, with its ideal of 'pleasant refinement and elegant simplicity without stylish adornment,' cited by Wen Zhenhung in his early Ming guide to stylish living, Zhangwuzhi (Treatise on Superfluous Things). The six-poster 'wedding bed', often a dowry item brought into the marriage with the bride, was more likely to be made for the women's quarters. Compare with the more severe nanmu four-poster bed with open panels set along the three rails, sold at Christie's New York on 21 March 2000, lot 41. Two four-poster beds in huanghuali have been sold at Christie's New York on 16 September 1998, lot 81 and 16 September 1999, lot 79. For a further discussion of this piece, see Curtis Evart's introductory essay, 'Splendor of Chinese Classical Furniture: Highlights from the Gangolf Geis Collection', on pp.12-13 of this catalogue. Also see the side view of this bed illustrated on p. 9.

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