17TH CENTURY

Due to its simple design and light weight, the daybed was a versatile piece of furniture, easily suited for both indoor and outdoor purposes. Woodblock prints dating from the Ming dynasty often show scholars or ladies relaxing on daybeds in garden settings or along riverbanks. A huanghuali daybed with legs terminating in carved scroll-form feet is illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, p. 146, no. 38. A huanghuali daybed with humpback stretchers and of the same proportions, but with thinner members, was sold at Christie's New York, 16 September 2016, lot 1203.