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Lot Essay
Yixin (1833-1898), more commonly referred to by his title, Prince Gong (or Prince Kung), was one of the most important Chinese statesman of the 19th century. As the sixth son of the Daoguang Emperor (r. 1821-1850), he was at one time considered as a possible successor to the throne, although his half-brother eventually inherited the title of Emperor. He negotiated with the foreign powers to conclude the Second Opium War in 1860, and after the death of his brother in 1861, served as Prince-Regent to his young nephew, the Tongzhi Emperor (r. 1861-1875), and for many years was one of the most influential figures at the Qing court.
Prince Gong continued to serve as chief diplomat and statesman throughout the reigns of the Tongzhi Emperor and his successor, the Guangxu Emperor (r. 1875-1908). Upon his death in 1898, the title of Prince Gong and his sumptuous mansion passed to his successor, Pu Wei. A year after the Qing Empire was overthrown in 1911, Pu Wei made the painful decision to sell the family treasures in the mansion in order to reverse the defeat of the Qing dynasty, and entrusted them to the Japanese antique dealer, Yamanaka Sadajiro. Although no furniture is listed in the Yamanaka catalogue, it is likely the furniture of the house was sold around this time, as the mansion, now in a dilapidated and abandoned state, was eventually sold to the Order of Saint Benedict of the Catholic Church in 1921.
Around 1983, the National Palace Museum in Taipei was approached by Dong Wu University in Taiwan to facilitate the sale of a collection of zitan furniture. The university had been gifted the collection by an anonymous donor, who claimed the furniture had come from the Gong Wang Fu, purchased by his family in the early 20th century and transported in the intervening years from Beijing, to Shanghai, Hong Kong, and finally to Taiwan. Scholars associated with the National Palace Museum conducted extensive research prior to the sale, and based on the quality and abundance of the luxury hardwood, zitan, the carving technique, and the style of the furniture itself, determined it was highly likely the furniture had come from the Gong Wang Fu. The collection is on permanent exhibition at the National Palace Museum in Taipei and catalogued as coming from Prince Gong’s Mansion.
The present set of four zitan stools were part of the original gift by the anonymous donor to Dongwu University and were exhibited alongside the large suite of zitan furniture at the National Palace Museum, Taipei. In an article published in The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, 1983, vol. 3, p. 101, the present zitan stools are photographed beneath an ornately carved zitan corner-leg table and a pair of zitan stepped cabinets, both currently on view at the National Palace Museum, Taipei. (Fig. 1) The caption below the photograph can be translated as “the Museum’s recent acquisitions from the Prince Gong collection.” When the exhibition closed, the donor decided to keep this set of four stools and the zitan display shelf (lot 1160).
In Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 27, A28, Wang Shixiang illustrates a line drawing of a waisted stool with graceful incurving legs terminating in a hoof foot and joined by a base rail. He notes that several zitan stools with base stretchers and relief-carved ruyi on the aprons are in the Palace Museum collection, and dates stools of this type to the early Qing period. A related example with deeper incurving legs, carved corner spandrels, and no base rail is illustrated by Hu Desheng in The Palace Museum Collection: A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, c. 2007, p. 138, fig. 125.
Prince Gong continued to serve as chief diplomat and statesman throughout the reigns of the Tongzhi Emperor and his successor, the Guangxu Emperor (r. 1875-1908). Upon his death in 1898, the title of Prince Gong and his sumptuous mansion passed to his successor, Pu Wei. A year after the Qing Empire was overthrown in 1911, Pu Wei made the painful decision to sell the family treasures in the mansion in order to reverse the defeat of the Qing dynasty, and entrusted them to the Japanese antique dealer, Yamanaka Sadajiro. Although no furniture is listed in the Yamanaka catalogue, it is likely the furniture of the house was sold around this time, as the mansion, now in a dilapidated and abandoned state, was eventually sold to the Order of Saint Benedict of the Catholic Church in 1921.
Around 1983, the National Palace Museum in Taipei was approached by Dong Wu University in Taiwan to facilitate the sale of a collection of zitan furniture. The university had been gifted the collection by an anonymous donor, who claimed the furniture had come from the Gong Wang Fu, purchased by his family in the early 20th century and transported in the intervening years from Beijing, to Shanghai, Hong Kong, and finally to Taiwan. Scholars associated with the National Palace Museum conducted extensive research prior to the sale, and based on the quality and abundance of the luxury hardwood, zitan, the carving technique, and the style of the furniture itself, determined it was highly likely the furniture had come from the Gong Wang Fu. The collection is on permanent exhibition at the National Palace Museum in Taipei and catalogued as coming from Prince Gong’s Mansion.
The present set of four zitan stools were part of the original gift by the anonymous donor to Dongwu University and were exhibited alongside the large suite of zitan furniture at the National Palace Museum, Taipei. In an article published in The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, 1983, vol. 3, p. 101, the present zitan stools are photographed beneath an ornately carved zitan corner-leg table and a pair of zitan stepped cabinets, both currently on view at the National Palace Museum, Taipei. (Fig. 1) The caption below the photograph can be translated as “the Museum’s recent acquisitions from the Prince Gong collection.” When the exhibition closed, the donor decided to keep this set of four stools and the zitan display shelf (lot 1160).
In Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 27, A28, Wang Shixiang illustrates a line drawing of a waisted stool with graceful incurving legs terminating in a hoof foot and joined by a base rail. He notes that several zitan stools with base stretchers and relief-carved ruyi on the aprons are in the Palace Museum collection, and dates stools of this type to the early Qing period. A related example with deeper incurving legs, carved corner spandrels, and no base rail is illustrated by Hu Desheng in The Palace Museum Collection: A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, c. 2007, p. 138, fig. 125.