AN IMPORTANT AND EXCEEDINGLY RARE HUANGHUALI RECTANGULAR DAY-BED, TA
Circa 1550-1600The well-proportioned bed with a moulded frame of standard miter, mortise and tenon construction enclosing a soft-mat platform with five bowed stretchers underneath, above square-section corner legs ending in inward-turning hoof feet and joined by humpback stretchers. 213cm (83 7/8in) long x 63cm (24 7/8in) deep x 54cm high (21 2/in).
注脚
約1550-1600年 黃花梨榻Provenance: Ming Furniture Ltd., New York, 1991David S. Utterberg (1947-2020) and Nayda Utterberg, Seattle Sotheby's New York, 16 March 2016, lot 227An important European private collectionPublished and Illustrated: S.Handler, 'Outstanding Pieces in Private Rooms: Chinese Classical Furniture in New American Collections', Orientations, January 1993, fig.4.S.Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, 2005, p.101.來源:1991年,前藏家購自紐約古董商明代家具有限公司美國西雅圖David S. Utterberg(1947-2020)及Nayda Utterberg伉儷舊藏紐約蘇富比,2016年3月16日,拍品編號227歐洲重要私人收藏出版著錄:S.Handler,〈Outstanding Pieces in Private Rooms: Chinese Classical Furniture in New American Collections〉,《Orientations》,1993年1月刊,香港,編號4S.Handler,《Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture》,美國伯克利,2005年,頁101Classical and elegant in its linearity and simplicity, the present daybed is an exceptionally early and rare example fashioned from a single huanghuali plank of unusually large size. Due to its simple design and light weight, the raised platform was used since the earliest historical phases of Chinese history. It was a highly versatile piece of furniture, elevated above the draughts and dampness of the floor, and thus easily suited for both indoor and outdoor purposes. Platforms could be large enough to accommodate a group of people of just the right size for one, such as the present example. Unencumbered by railings, canopies and having to stay in one place, platforms (unlike couchbeds, canopy beds or even kang tables) are probably the very best and most classical examples of the elemental form of Chinese furniture. The oldest platforms in China appear to date to the Anyang period of the Shang dynasty (13th-11th BC). They were made in marble and bronze and supported precious bronze ritual vessels. By the Han dynasty, platforms indicated social status and served as seats for dignitaries. Numerous depictions of banquet scenes, in burials dating to around this period, show the most significant figures seated on raised platforms; see for example Wang Zengxin, 'Liaoyangshi Bangtaizi er hao bihua mu (Wall painting in tomb no.2, Bangtaizi, Liaoyang)', Kaogu, 1, 1960, p.22.By the Ming dynasty, platforms supported on four legs (as opposed to the more typical box-like construction of earlier periods) became highly popular and were constructed in various sizes. Platforms supported on four legs could be larger and heavier structures which were no longer easily moved. At this time, platforms were often referred to as 'Single-Sleeps' Dushui, which the Ming connoisseur Wen Zhenheng mentioned in his 'Treatise on Superflous Things' Zhang Wu Zhi. See Wen Zhenheng, Treatise on Superfluous Things, Nanjing, 1984, p.241. Although Chinese beds such as the present example have been referred to as 'day-beds' in the West, they were used for both daytime sitting and night-time sleeping. Paintings and woodblock prints dating to the Ming dynasty often depict scholars or court ladies sitting on their daybeds in garden settings or along riverbanks. See for example, 'Reclining on An Incense Fumigator' by Chen Hongshou (1599-1652), in the Shanghai Museum. Here, a lovesick court lady is depicted sitting on a platform with slender horse-hoof feet, appearing to converse with a parrot looking down from his elegant metal pedestal. In addition, a woodblock illustration by Ding Yunpeng (1547-c.1621) depicts a scholar joyfully ensconced with his book and scroll on a large platform. Leaning on a semi-circular armrest, he appears to be waiting for the refreshments being carried by his attendant. Finally, 'Waves on the Bank', a handscroll by Shen Zhou (1427-1509) shows a contemplative scholar seated on a platform in front of a large single-panel screen before the open door of his country retreat overlooking a small stream; see S.Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, p.117, fig.8.15, p.118, fig.8.18 and p.121, fig.8.22. The patrons of Ming furniture makers preferred simple lines and structural simplicity to elaborate carving and sumptuous decoration. In addition, at the time, the strength rather than the grain of the wood, was considered the most important feature of platforms, so they were often constructed with the wood obtained from the centre of the tree, which was less prone to warping if it had been aged and cured for a long time. See a related huanghuali single-bed, Ming dynasty, late 16th/early 17th century, displaying a waisted frame and lacking the side stretchers, illustrated by G.Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, London, 1962, pl.19.15. Two other examples are illustrated by S.Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2001, p.116 and by R.H.Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, no.38, p.146. Finally, a pottery miniature figure of a platform exhibiting a similar frame to the present example, in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, was unearthed from the Ming dynasty tomb of Pan Yuan Zheng (1589), illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1990, vol.1, pl.1.3a.Furniture made of exceptionally large single-planks of huanghuali wood would have been extremely rare and expensive to make at the time, and is still highly expensive today. See, for example, a magnificent and very rare massive huanghuali plank-top pedestal table, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Christie's New York, 22 March 2013, lot 1323.榻為四面平式,羅鍋棖,有馬蹄,榻面鑲籐編軟屜,以五根硬木穿帶支承,結構簡練,工藝精巧。明式的榻,現存者多為有束腰式,如本例無束腰且以方材製作者,殊為罕有。床無圍曰「榻」。由於設計簡練、質量輕便,此類坐臥用具在中國家具史上很早就佔據了一席之地。略高於地面的高度為使用者隔絕了地面的陰冷潮濕,也因此更具普適性,無論是臥室書齋還是亭台軒榭,皆可安放。除少量寬者可供多人休憩外,大多如同本例,只宜供一人睡臥。有別於羅漢床、架子床和炕,榻之上不設任何圍子、立柱、頂棚等裝置,可謂明韻簡約之風的最佳示例。榻作為家具陳設起源極早,殷商時期以石材和青銅製成,用來放置青銅禮器。至漢代時,已成為像徵使用者地位尊貴的坐具;此時期出土的墓葬中,有許多宴會場景都描繪了席間最重要的人物坐於榻上。見王增新著,〈遼陽市棒台子二號壁畫墓〉,《考古》1960年01期,頁22。直至明朝,先前帶托泥的台座式榻體已極為少見,四足著地支撐的榻開始流行。王世襄先生在《明式傢俱研究》中提及,「榻一般較窄,除個別寬者外,匠師們或稱之曰『獨睡』,言其只宜供一人睡臥。文震亨《長物誌》中有『獨眠床』之稱,可見此名亦有來歷。」 亦見文震亨著,《長物誌》,南京,1984年,頁241。明代的書畫及木刻版畫中也常有描繪文人或仕女在庭園內溪林邊休憩於臥榻之上的情景。上海博物館館藏明代畫家陳洪綬作《斜倚薰籠圖》軸,可見一婦人懷抱細竹篾條編制成的熏籠,擁被斜倚於榻上;榻身四面平、馬蹄足,簡練優美。另一幅明代畫家丁雲鵬所作木刻版畫中,則刻畫了一位文人倚坐在書齋內寬大的臥榻之上,身旁擺滿書卷,等待他的侍從奉上茶點。蘇州博物館藏明沈周《岸波圖卷》也描繪了波委雲集的水岸邊草堂內,一逸士合手獨坐於榻上,望向密林山川的情景。見S.Handler著,《Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture》,伯克利與洛杉磯,2001年,頁117,圖8.15、頁118,圖8.18、及頁121,圖8.22。相較於繁複的雕刻和華麗的裝飾,明代家具更多見明快的線條和簡約的結構。此外,出於的實用的考量,人們認為選擇製作榻的材料最重要的要素應該是木材的強度,而非紋理,因此通常選取樹木中心的部分製作榻體,這樣即便經年累月也不易變形。參考一具與本例相關的明十六世紀晚期至十七世紀早期黃花梨榻,但有束腰且無邊棖,收錄於艾克著,《Chinese Domestic Furniture》,倫敦,1962年,圖版19.15。另有兩例可見S.Handler著,《Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture》,伯克利與洛杉磯,2001年,頁116,及安思遠著,《Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties》,紐約,1971年,編號38,頁146。以及上海博物館館藏之明潘允徵墓出土一件微型榻,形制可為參考,見王世襄著,《明式家具研究》,香港,1990年,卷一,圖版1.3a。形如本例尺寸巨大的黃花梨家具,以整木大料製成,殊為珍罕,無論在當時還是現今市場上都極為少見。紐約佳士得曾於2013年3月22日售出一件十七至十八世紀黃花梨架几案,拍品編號1323,可供參考。
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