Page 62 - Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Christie's Hong Kong May 29, 2019

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Canopy beds have either six or four posts. As noted by Sarah The geometric decoration on the railings resembles the wan
Handler in her discussion of the form in Austere Luminosity character in Chinese. The wan emblem arranged repeatedly
of Chinese Classical Furniture, Hong Kong, 2001, pp.139-58, symbolises the wish for infinite longevity, wan shou wu jiang.
canopy beds occupied a central and dominant position in the A huanghuali bed of nearly the same size and ornamentation
Ming dynasty household. It was common for drapery to be used is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, accession number 1961-
to create a private world within closed curtains, and examples 89-1, and is illustrated by Michael Beurdeley in Chinese
can be seen in Ming and Qing woodblock prints (fig. 1). Furniture, New York, 1979, p. 83, no. 112 (fig. 4). Both the
A miniature model of an alcove bed made in jumu (southern present bed and Philadelphia bed share the same carved
panels beneath the top frame, similarly grooved posts, beaded
elm) of almost the same design as the present bed was aprons and thick, rectangular legs. The outer surfaces of the
found in the tomb of a Wanli period (1573-1619) official lustrous wood on the railings and posts are all slightly concave
Pan Yunzheng, discovered in Shanghai in 1960 (fig. 2). The to create a beautiful play of light.
excavated model is constructed with the original antechamber
and stand, and is currently on display in the Shanghai A similarly designed luohan bed was sold at Sotheby’s Hong
Museum. The model demonstrates how the bed was originally Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 109. Also see another luohan bed from
displayed in a Ming dynasty bedroom together in a setting the Tseng Riddell collection, exhibited in Splendor of Style:
surrounded by other miniature furniture. See also the drawing Classical Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, National
of another miniature model of an alcove bed discovered in Museum of History, Taipei, 1999, pp. 108–109. A canopy bed
Suzhou from the tomb of Wang Xijue (1534-1614), the head of with a related design of wan emblems on the surrounding
the Ministry of Personnel, also from the Wanli period (fig. 3). panels is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The
Both models suggest that the design of the present bed was Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 53
popular among high ranking officials in the 16th century. -Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong,
2002, pp. 6-9, no. 2.

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