Large Chinese Zitan carved dragon throne. Dense hardwood throughout with a fine grain, elaborately carved surface with dragons amidst dense of ruyi clouds in deep reliefs. The rails banded with diamond patterned ribbon. The rectangular frame encloses flat surface seat above dragons and ruyi clouds carved aprons and spandrels. Raised on four prominent cabriole legs and joined by frame sketchers. The Zitan wood display smooth lustrous dense hardwood with dark purple-brown patina and feathery fine grain. The carving is deep and detail yet smooth to the touch, giving three dimensional appearance in every angles, revealed a masterpiece of workmanship. The design motif of many Clouds show wisdom and heavenly blessing, referred to as "auspicious clouds" (xiangyun), represent the heavens and also "good luck" because the Chinese word for cloud (Yun) is pronounced the same as Yun meaning "luck" or "fortune". These repeated clouds in a pattern symbolizes never-ending fortune. While the Dragon in Chinese Symbols is symbolizes benevolence, prosperity, power, royalty, a yang symbol, longevity and the renewal of life.
Measurements: Height: 49 3/4" Width: 50 1/4" Depth: 33 1/4"PROVENANCE: Miami, Florida, private collector, by inheritance. Moore family ran several antiques stores business and hotel during 1930-1970's around Delphi, Indiana. Specialized in antique Furniture and porcelain china. LOT NOTES:
The Dragon Throne is the throne of the Emperor of China. As the dragon was the emblem of divine imperial power, the throne of the Emperor, who was considered a living god, was known as the Dragon Throne. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in the special seating in various structures in the Forbidden City of Beijing or in the palaces of the Old Summer Palace. Metonymically, "the Dragon Throne" can also refer to the head of state and to the monarchy itself. In Imperial China, the seat of power was called the Dragon's Seat or the Dragon Throne. The process of accession, the ceremonies of enthronement and the act being seated on the Dragon's Throne were roughly interchangeable. The Dragon Throne was an hereditary monarchy in China before 1912. In much the same sense as the British Crown, the Dragon Throne became an abstract metonymic concept which represented the monarch and the legal authority for the existence of the government. According to tradition, the Chinese Empire began with the Qin dynasty in 221 BC; and the chronology of the emperors continued in unbroken succession until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912. For a short time in 1917, to whatever extent the Chinese emperor was held to be as symbol of the state and its people, the Dragon Throne would have been construed as a symbol of a constitutional monarch.