Bonhams 1793 : A rare huanghuali and hardwood bed, luohanchuang 17th/18th century

Bonhams magazines

My Bonhams

Advanced search

Click here to see more images.

12 May 2011 10:00 BST London, New Bond Street
Fine Chinese Art
Back to auction 18827

A rare huanghuali and hardwood bed, luohanchuang

17th/18th century
The rectangular huanghuali bed framing a woven mat, raised on four cabriole legs carved with scroll terminals, the front aprons and legs finely carved with an archaistic taotie mask flanked by stylised chilongs and a chilong climbing over lingzhi fungus sprays, the side aprons and legs carved with foliate scrolls, rising to the five hardwood lattice panels carved with interlocking quatrelobes above shaped openwork panels, each panel flanked by balusters and inlaid with pastiche coloured glass. 217cm wide x 155.5cm deep x 105cm high (85 3/8in wide x 61¼in deep x 41 3/8in high)

Sold for £916,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

Provenance: a German private collection

The superb quality of the decoration and style of carving is comparable to those seen in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Compare a related huanghuali four-poster bed, Ming Dynasty, in the Palace Museum, with similar carving on the front apron of a central taotie mask, inspired by motifs on archaic bronzes, flanked by chilong dragons and lingzhi fungus scrolls and supported on legs similarly carved with scroll terminals and a chilong dragon climbing over the leg, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl.1, pp.2-5. Compare also the carving and terminal on the legs of another huanghuali 'arhat' bed, Ming Dynasty, from the Palace Museum, ibid., pl.6. For a similar use of the baluster posts flanking the openwork panels, see those adorning a rosewood cabinet, Ming Dynasty, ibid., pl.179; and a similar example adorning the posts of a pair of huanghuali display cabinets, 17th/18th century, illustrated by the National Museum of History, Splendor of Style: Classical Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, p.166. Furthermore, the use of openwork panels as the superstructure atop the bed may be seen in a variety of geometric forms on beds from the Palace Museum, see ibid., pls.1, 2, and 5. For another example from the Shanghai Museum, see the central openwork panel on a huanghuali clothes rack, Ming Dynasty, illustrated by Q.Chuang, ed., The Chuang Family Bequest of Fine Ming and Qing Furniture in the Shanghai Museum, Hong Kong, 1998, pl.55.

Compare a related huanghuali four-poster bed, with similar trellis design, attributed to the Ming Dynasty, sold at Beijing Hanhai, on 10 November 2009, lot 2822.

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

Auction terms and conditions