Page 149 - Christie's Important Chinese Art, March 23 to 24 2023 New York

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK CITY COLLECTION
ⱷ1144
A RARE PAIR OF CARVED WHITE MARBLE DRUM STOOLS 紐☼市私́珍藏
17TH CENTURY
十ˑˠ紀ǎ漢白玉雕瑞獸紋鼓ગˏ對
19q in. (50 cm.) high, 22q in. (57 cm.) diam. Ϝ源
馬科斯Ĥ弗拉Գ斯
紐☼
$50,000-70,000 十面靈璧山居珍藏
紐☼
PROVENANCE: ֨ḛ
M. D. Flacks Ltd., New York. 馬科斯Ĥ弗拉Գ斯
Ǘ$MBTTJDBM $IJOFTF 'VSOJUVSF 7**ǘ, 紐☼
年春
編號
The Ten Views of a Lingbi Rock Collection, New York. 馬科斯Ĥ弗拉Գ斯
Ǘ中४۵ՔҭЦ私房觀點ǘ
і敦
年
頁
LITERATURE:
Marcus Flacks, Classical Chinese Furniture VII, New York, Spring 2005, no. 6.
Marcus Flacks, Classical Chinese Furniture: A Very Personal Point of View,
London, 2011, pp. 112-15.

This extraordinary pair of stools is not only impressive for their massive size
but also for the finesse and depth of carving. Each stool is modeled after a
drum, with the rows of raised bosses at the top and bottom imitating the nail
heads that would have secured the leather taut on the drum. The protruding
handles on either side are formed as fierce demon-masks with long horns,
which flank octofoil cartouches enclosing two writhing dragons, all set
against a ground of dense, intertwined foliate scroll. The stools are further
carved in low relief on the tops with a geometric pattern that emulates the
sumptuous brocaded textiles of the time, which were sometimes placed on
stone furniture to add comfort and warmth. These stools would have been
used in a garden or a courtyard, likely placed near the entrance for functional
and apotropaic purposes. The lavish use of material combined with the
sophisticated and well-executed design indicate that this pair was produced
for a highly important patron for whom no expense was spared. A pair of
th
white marble ‘drum’ stools dated to the 17 century of similar height, but
carved with four large oval openings on the sides, was sold at Christie’s New
York, 16 September 2016, lot 1136.

(detail)