Page 258 - Chinese Works of Art Chritie's Mar. 22-23 2018

~949
A LARGE AND RARE HUANGHUALI BALANCE STAND, 十七/十八世紀 黃花梨天平架
TIANPINGJIA
17TH-18TH CENTURY
著錄：
The upright frame is joined by a humpback stretcher above the humpback
top rail, and suspends a pair of balance scales stamped W & T Avery, Makers, 安思遠（R. H. Ellsworth）、N. Grindley及Anita Christy，《洪氏所藏木器百
Birmingham 38243. The corner posts are fanked by standing spandrels and 圖》，卷一，紐約，1996年，頁242-43，編號100
supported on a long rectangular base with two drawers.
27 in. (68.6 cm.) high, 21Ω in. (54.6 cm.) wide, 7º in. (18.4 cm.) deep 銀為明代之主要貨幣單位，故此，稱為其時日常生活之必需品，全國大小商
店內均可見其蹤跡。明代章回小說《金瓶梅》中之木刻版畫插圖就有描繪一
$70,000-90,000 家絲綢店內正在使用天平架（圖一）。天平連架原好無缺，甚為難得。然本
器最特別之處為其天平是以黃銅製成。
LITERATURE
R. H. Ellsworth, N. Grindley and Anita Christy, Chinese Furniture: One Hundred 美國明尼阿波利斯藝術博物館藏一件十七世紀黃花梨天平架尺寸比本器略
Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, vol. 1, New York, 1996, 大，然而兩者造型皆簡練淳樸，見R.D. Jacobsen及尼古拉斯﹒格林利著《明
pp. 242-43, no. 100.
尼阿波利斯藝術博物館藏中國古典家具》（Classical Chinese Furniture in the
Minneapolis Museum of Art），頁176-77，編號63。另有一黃花梨天平架，透
Scales were essential for use in the Ming dynasty, when silver was the main
form of currency, and were found in shops throughout China. A 17th-century 雕站牙，兩屜式，見紐約佳士得2016年9月16日，拍品編號1209。
woodblock illustration from the Jin Ping Mei shows a balance stand in use at
a silk shop. (Fig. 1) It is rare to fnd balance stands retaining their scales. This
particular example is distinguished by its brass scales.
A 17th-century huanghuali balance stand in the collection of the Minneapolis
Institute of Arts and illustrated by R.D. Jacobsen and N. Grindley, Classical
Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, 1999, pp.
176-77, no. 63, has slightly larger proportions and displays an austere design
similar to the present example. See, also, a related huanghuali balance stand
with openwork spandrels and two-drawer construction of similar proportion
sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2016, lot 1209.

Fig. 1. Woodblock illustration from The Jin Ping Mei, 17th century.

IMPORTANT CHINESE FURNITURE from the RAYMOND HUNG C O L L E C T I O N 洪建生珍藏中國古代重要家具