Page 230 - Christies September 13 to 14th Fine Chinese Works of Art New York

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE MIDWESTERN COLLECTION
1241
A JICHIMU FOUR-POSTER CANOPY BED, JIAZICHUANG
18TH CENTURY
The openwork top is formed by attractive latticework and supported on four vertical posts joined by
humpback stretchers. The soft mat seat is set within the thick, rectangular frame and enclosed on three
sides by shaped panels, all above a narrow waist and shaped, beaded aprons carved at the center with
an interlocked leafy scroll. The whole is supported on elegantly curved, beaded cabriole legs terminating
in ruyi head-form feet.
87 in. (221 cm.) high, 78æ in. (200 cm.) wide, 47æ in. (121.1 cm.) deep
$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE
Nicholas Grindley, 1997.
LITERATURE
S. Leece and M. Freeman, China Style, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 55.
It has been suggested that the four-poster bed was more likely to have been found in a man’s apartment,
due to its ‘pleasant refnement and elegant simplicity without stylish adornment,’ as cited by Wen
Zhenheng in his early Ming guide to stylish living, Zhangwuzhi (Treatise on Superfuous Things). The
author also suggests that the six-poster ‘wedding bed’ may have been a dowry item brought into the
marriage with the bride, and was more likely to be found in the women’s quarters.

Compare the four-poster huanghuali canopy bed, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 4075.
Two additional four-poster canopy beds have been sold at Christie’s New York; one in tiger maple, from
the Gangolf Geis Collection, on 18 September 2003, lot 28, and the other in nanmu, sold on 21 March
2000, lot 41. However, the present bed, with its juxtaposition of latticework top frame and solid plank
sides, is a particularly dramatic and attractive example.
清十八世紀 雞翅木四柱架子床

(detail)

228