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Lot Essay
The depth of the present bed, which is slightly smaller than many canopy beds, provides it with its charming character, and helps make it less unweildy than many of the larger and more heavily proportioned examples. Also noteworthy is the fine attention to detail, with a combination of high-quality beading and grooving, the use of thick members, and the selection of a fine-grained and attractively coloured huanghuali.
It has been suggested that six-poster canopy beds such as the present example would have been found in women's chambers, and four-poster beds in men's chambers. See, for example, a detail of a lady standing beside a similar six-poster canopy bed, illustrated in the Ming dynasty carpenter's manual Lu Ban jing. (Fig.1)
A huanghuali bed of nearly the exact same size and closely related ornamentation is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and is illustrated by Michael Beurdeley in Chinese Furniture, New York, 1979, p. 83, no. 112. Both the present and Philadelphia beds share the same carved panels beneath the top frame, similarly grooved posts, beaded aprons and thick, rectangular legs, suggesting that the two may have come from the same, or at least a closely related workshop. The only difference between the two appears to be the latticework rails, which on the Philadelphia example is composed of a wan fret.
It has been suggested that six-poster canopy beds such as the present example would have been found in women's chambers, and four-poster beds in men's chambers. See, for example, a detail of a lady standing beside a similar six-poster canopy bed, illustrated in the Ming dynasty carpenter's manual Lu Ban jing. (Fig.1)
A huanghuali bed of nearly the exact same size and closely related ornamentation is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and is illustrated by Michael Beurdeley in Chinese Furniture, New York, 1979, p. 83, no. 112. Both the present and Philadelphia beds share the same carved panels beneath the top frame, similarly grooved posts, beaded aprons and thick, rectangular legs, suggesting that the two may have come from the same, or at least a closely related workshop. The only difference between the two appears to be the latticework rails, which on the Philadelphia example is composed of a wan fret.