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A BLACK LACQUER AND GILT ૶ɤɞ˰ߏ ලဒ౜ږӫʗྡ˙௷Җ࠰ɟ
DOUBLE-LOZENGE STAND Ը๕
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY ج਷ӷɛϗᔛd੻׵ߒ1970ϋ
the tall, slender stand with a top of auspicious
lozenge outline, the two intersecting diamond-
form panels with two lea# ng stems of ! owering
peony on a wanzi ground, within a wide border
of landscapes reserved against a diaper ground,
above an openwork apron of pendent ruyi-heads,
a straight stretcher and archaistic angular scroll
spandrels, supported on six slender square-
section legs with foliate decoration terminating
in hoof foot atop a conforming base stretcher on
low bracket feet, all # nely painted in gilt on a rich
brownish-black lacquer ground
Height 34¼ in., 87 cm; Width 22½ in., 57.2 cm;
Depth 15 in., 38.1 cm
PROVENANCE
French Private Collection, acquired circa 1970.
During the early Qing dynasty there was renewed
interest in lacquered furniture, a medium which
achieved great prominence and was among the
most valued for furnishings during the Ming
dynasty. As with other media, the Qing rulers
adapted, assimilated and innovated. The Qing
aesthetic enriched and enhanced all media
including lacquer furniture as evidenced by the
present piece. Craig Clunas in Chinese Furniture,
London, 1988, p. 31, observes that forms
previously enlivened with richly patterned textiles
draped over a surface were made redundant
by early Qing artisans who artfully integrated
complex layers of patterns decoration through
inlay, carving and in the case of the present piece,
painted gilt lacquer. The double lozenge form is
elegantly echoed by the design and highlighted
by varying borders. The e: ect of the rich dark
brown layers of lustrous semi-translucent lacquer
sumptuously ampli# ed by warm gold tones is
resplendent; its re! ective qualities would have
been much appreciated and admired in the
darker interiors of the 18th century. The high
status of small, re# ned forms such as the present
stand may be seen in the choice of furnishings
depicted in the Yongzheng period paintings
‘Twelve Beauties in the Yuanmingyuan’ in the
Palace Museum, Beijing. For more on the topic
see Tian Jiaqing, ‘Early Qing Furniture in a Set of
Qing Dynasty Court Paintings’, Chinese Furniture
Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-2003,
Hong Kong, 2004, pp 153-161; two of the
paintings with black and gilt lacquer stands # gs
15 and 17. For a related table with similar motifs
and archaistic angular scroll spandrels see the
examples from the Qing Court Collection, The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
(II), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 89.
$ 45,000-55,000

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 159