Page 158 - important chinese art mar 22 2018
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PROPERTY FROM THE SKINNER FAMILY EXHIBITED The family moved into the house in 1898, however
COLLECTION on the night of June 25th 1906, while attending
On loan to Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke,
A RARE ‘HONGMU’ FOUR-POST Massachusetts, 1972-2018. a performance at Madison Square Garden,
Stanford White was shot from behind by Henry
CANOPY BED (JIAZICHUANG) Four-poster canopy beds are extremely rare. A Kendall Thaw in a # t of jealous rage. Seeking relief
QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH woodblock picture dating to 1640 illustrated by from the scandal, the following April the family
CENTURY Sarah Handler Austere Luminosity of Chinese put up the house and furnishings at auction. The
Classical Furniture, California, 2001, p. 145 shows present bed listed as an ‘Elaborate Teakwood
the wide rectangular frame of standard mitered, an example of a four-poster canopy bed but very Bedstead’ and as being among the furnishing in
mortise and tenon construction, the molded edge few extant examples are known. The present the ‘middle chamber, second ! oor’.
tapering to a short, recessed waist continuing to example di: ers from most four-post beds by
a plain straight apron, supported on four robust its long openwork ! ange brackets that enclose The sale was reported as one of the important
square-section inward-facing hoof feet, the four the front and e: ectively serve as another pair social events of the year with some of the
square-section posts joined to the frame with of posts. Although documentation is scant, it greatest collectors vying for various works of art.
three latticework panels comprised of one long appears that for the Qing aristocracy canopy The present bed was purchased by Belle Skinner
and two short friezes of linked angular scrollwork beds were always a feature in a woman’s room (1866-1928) ( g. 1) a philanthropist and daughter
below straight stretchers and pierced ovoid and less frequently used by men who opted for of William Skinner, an Englishman, who came to
struts, the front with two shaped openwork three-sided couch beds. Many of these grand and America in 1843 and established a successful
brackets of further archaistic angular scrolls very costly canopy beds were part of a woman’s silk business in Northampton, Massachusetts.
enclosing # nely carved acanthus leaf scrolls, all dowry. The decorative motifs and geometric After a disastrous ! ood, the mills were rebuilt in
surmounted by three further plain square-section openwork were carefully chosen; each element Holyoke, Massachusetts where the family home
stretchers stabilizing the slender posts and four designed to convey auspicious wishes to a young Wisteriahurst was built. Belle Skinner, along with
openwork friezes enclosing lush ! oral blooms couple. The bed would have been ornamented her brother William Cobbett Skinner (1857-1947)
issuing leafy scrolls within an irregular frame with elaborate bed hangings, mattress cover, and was an inveterate traveler and collector. She and
of archaic C-scrolls, over openwork spandrels pillows with patterns chosen to complement the her brother journeyed to Asia twice and to Europe
of chilong and bats amid scrolling clouds along carved decoration enriching the sensuous e: ect. more frequently where they acquired Chinese,
the back and side corners and foliate-carved The textiles would be changed seasonally with Japanese and European decorative arts.
long ! ange brackets at the front, the canopy heavy silks used in the winter time and # ne silk According the family records, the four poster
surmounted by elegantly barbed lozenge-form gauze in the warmer months. bed was acquired for Belle Skinner’s apartment
trelliswork
The bed was formerly in the collection of the at 36 East 39th Street in New York City. From
Height 93¼ in., 236.8 cm; Width 89 in., 226.1 cm;
famous architect Stanford White. Born in New 1972 to the present the canopy bed has been
Depth 66 in., 167.7 cm
York in 1853, he displayed uncanny design ability on display at the Skinner family museum
PROVENANCE from a young age and joined with Charles McKim Wistariahurst,which has stood as an example
Collection of Stanford White (1853-1906), and William Mead in 1879 to create one of the of elegance and # ne architecture since 1874
New York. most successful architectural # rms in America. ( g. 2). The buildings and grounds were owned
American Art Association, New York, 4th-6th Having grown accustomed to the tastes of the continually by the Skinner family until 1959, when
April 1907, lot 266. most powerful and a< uent members of society, Katharine Skinner Kilborne, the youngest child
Collection of Ruth Isabel (Belle) Skinner (1866- the prosperous designer spared no expense on of William and Sarah Skinner, and her heirs gave
1928), and thence by descent. the furnishing of his own home. The house at Wistariahurst to the City of Holyoke for cultural
121 East 21st street, New York City was # lled to and educational purposes.
bursting with treasures from around the world.
Ⴚ $ 80,000-120,000
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Stanford White 1853 1906 ϗᔛdॲߒ
American Art Associationdॲߒd1907ϋ4˜4
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Ruth Isabel Belle Skinner 1866 1928 ϗᔛd
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Wistariahurst Museumdᎍлෳдd௦d
1972Ї2018ϋ࠾࢝
Fig. 1 Portrait of Ruth Isabelle
Fig. 2 The present lot on display at Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke,
Skinner aka “Belle” painted by Massachusetts
Irving Wiles in 1923 that hangs
͉ۜ࢝ Wistariahurst Museumdᎍлෳдd௦
in Wistariahurst Museum in
Holyoke, MA
Ruth Isabelle Skinner (Belle)
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ᔛ Wistariahurst Museumdᎍ
лෳдd௦
156 SOTHEBY’S