Page 122 - 2020 October 8 HK Fine Classical Paintings

Sumptuously carved in openwork with sinuous chilong writhing most used pieces of furniture in women’s apartments. 17th vulgar, while gold brocaded silk curtains and those of bo silk through their decoration and increasing stability. In addition,
around auspicious motifs, this magnificent canopy bed is a century households that adhered to Confucian norms confined are for the women’s quarters”. the upper panels under the canopy roof are carved to allow air
display of 17th century aristocratic splendour. Employed in the women to the inner courtyards of a family compound, away Most importantly, beds were the place where children were circulation as the panels under the eaves of buildings.
inner quarters by both men and women, beds were the focal from the front of the house where important male visitors were conceived and their decoration is often filled with auspicious The canopy bed has a long history in China, with the earliest
point of the household, and six-post canopy beds were most received and official functions took place. Bedrooms were omens that reflect this function. On this bed sinuous chilong, example dating to the fourth century BC. A sophisticated
luxurious and impressive type of bed that one could own. informal rooms where women spent many of their waking young hornless dragons, dominate the design and represent wooden bed frames (chuang) was discovered at a tomb
This bed is discussed by the furniture scholar Wang Shixiang in hours, thus their furnishing, especially the bed, were important the aspiration of conceiving meritorious sons. Auspicious in Xinyang, Henan province, attributed to a ruler of the
Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, status symbols, indicating their position within the family. clouds, rocks and lingzhi, and shou (longevity) characters southern kingdom of Chu. These early beds were likely used
1995, p. 22, where he identifies a group of canopy beds During daytime, canopy beds were used as seats for informal were believed to bring blessings and good luck to those within. with a canopy frame, such as the one excavated from the
exquisitely carved with closely related designs and suggests leisure: a long table and footstool were placed in front of the Designs on beds could also be indicative of a person’s social Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) tomb of Prince Liu Sheng, in
they were all produced at the same workshop in northern bed for comfortably reading or eating. A few stools and chairs status. Wang Shixiang, op. cit., suggests that the motif on this Mancheng, Hebei province. While the earliest surviving canopy
China. Two of these beds are illustrated in The Complete could be arranged around the bed for an informal gathering. bed of a qilin with his head turned backwards facing the sun, bed dates to the 16th century, this type bed is often found
Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the At night, curtains were hanged within the bedframe to protect first found on Qing rank badges, could indicate that the bed illustrated in paintings. See for example the bed depicted
Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 2, the first from drafts, mosquitoes as well as prying eyes. These curtains once belonged to the wife of an early Qing official. in Gu Kaizhi’s (c. 344-406) handscroll Nushi zhen tu (The
at the Great Mosque of Xi’an, and the second in the Palace were carefully chosen as their colour and patterns emphasised Six-post canopy beds are essentially a room within a room Admonitions of the court instructress), in the British Museum,
Museum, Beijing. A further closely related bed was included the intricate openwork carving of the bedrail. The 17th century as their design aesthetic principles of Chinese classical London, accession no. 1903,0408,0.1; and the bed visible on
in the exhibition Beyond the Screen, Museum of Fine Arts, scholar Wen Zhenheng in his influential Chang wu zhi [Treaties architecture. Their six-post construction mimics three-bay the famous 10th century handscroll Han Xizai yeyan tu (The
Boston, 2000, cat. no. 16; and two were sold at Christie’s Hong on Superfluous Things], discusses which fabrics should be buildings such as pavilions, where the roof is supported by Night Revels of Han Xizai), attributed to Gu Hongzhong, in
Kong, 3rd December 2008, lot 2532, and 30th November 2011, used on canopy beds: “Bed curtains for the winter months posts and the lack of walls merges outdoor and inner space. the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in the catalogue to
lot 3075. should be of pongee silk or of thick cotton with purple patterns. The sophisticated openwork railings recall a building’s the exhibition Masterpieces of Chinese Paintings 700-1900,
While used by both men and women, canopy beds were the Curtains of paper or of plain-weave, spun-silk cloth are both balustrade, which have the dual function of creating interest Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, fig. 4.

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