A very rare huanghuali folding stool with double footrests, jiaowu, Qing dynasty, 17th – 18th century | 清十七至十八世紀　黃花梨雙腳踏交杌

The Raymond Hung Collection.

Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2018, lot 3018.

Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: One Hundred and Three Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 2005, pp. 48-49, no. 19.

Conveniently lightweight and comfortable seats, folding stools such as the current example were popular in the Ming dynasty among travelling scholars and military officials. This design derives from prototypes known since the Han dynasty, when folding stools were imported by nomadic tribes from Central Asia and popularised by Emperor Lingdi (AD 168–189), who was fascinated by the foreign portable seat. The folding stool appears to be the first elevated type of seat in China, predating the emergence of the rigid frame chair (see Gustav Ecke, 'The Development of the Folding Chair. Notes on the History of the Form of the Eurasian Chair', Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, vol. 1, no. 1 (Winter, 1990), pp. 11-21). The woodblock print illustration to Lienü Zhuan [Biography of women in ancient China] by Ming dynasty painter Qiu Ying shows an attendant carrying a folding stool behind his master on horseback, suggesting their usage as travelling seats as well as stools for alighting from horses (Wanli period version, vol. 16, p. 147).

This stool is of a unique design, with a carefully conceived double footrest that is extremely rare. The square mortise holes beneath the footrests may have been intended for fixing with tenons or for tying with ropes to carrying poles, allowing the piece to serve as a sedan chair seat. The paired footrests on either side facilitate mounting and dismounting, and also enable bidirectional travel, ensuring that the passenger can always face forward. In literati life, the jiaowu held a special place: it was not only a daily seat but also a symbol of refined taste. Frequently treasured by members of the scholar-official class, it signified social status while reflecting the owner’s aesthetic sensibilities.

Double-footrest jiaowu are exceedingly rare, yet a few examples of single-footrest jiaowu do exist. Compare a stool illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, London, 1986, pl. 31; one carved with chilong on the upper members, illustrated in Karen Mazurkewich, Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting Antiques, Rutland, 2006, pl. 154; another from the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, sold at Christie's New York, 17th March 2015, lot 40; a stool carved with a floral scroll in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen, Classical Chinese Furniture, Minneapolis, 1999, pl. 1; a larger example, lacking the chilong, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th November 2012, lot 2008; and another, first sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31st October 1994, lot 413, and again in these rooms, 11th July 2020, lot 140.

來源

洪建生收藏

香港佳士得2018年5月30日，編號3018

出版

安思遠，《洪氏所藏木器百圖》，卷2，香港，2005年，頁48至49，編號19

交杌，又名馬札，造型輕巧、可摺疊，便於攜帶，尤為出遊之用。明仇英繪，萬曆時期刻本《列女傳》記錄了一名隨從扛著交杌，跟隨主人馬後，應協助主人上下馬或中途休息之用（卷16，頁147）。交杌源自西域，始見於東漢，又稱胡床，遊牧民族綁在馬背上以便歇息之用。《後漢書．五行志一》記載：「靈帝，好胡服、胡帳、胡床、胡坐、胡飯、胡箜篌、胡笛、胡舞，京都貴族皆競為之。」京城貴族的競相效仿，在中原被廣泛使用，成為中國最早的坐具之一。

本交杌造型獨特，雙腳踏設計極為講究，非常罕見。觀腳踏足下的方形榫眼，可能可用以榫頭固定或用繩索繫在擔架桿上，作轎椅之用。兩側腳踏便以上落，也便於雙向行駛，使乘客能永遠面向前方。交杌在文人生活中具有特殊地位，它不僅是日常坐具，更象徵文人雅士的生活情趣，常為士大夫階層所珍藏，既顯示身份地位，體現原物主的審美追求。

雙腳踏交杌寥若晨，然腳踏交杌也有數例。王世襄，《明式家具珍賞》，英文版，倫敦，1986年，頁31著錄一例明黃花梨有踏床交杌，框刻螭龍紋，與此交杌可資對比。一例錄於 Karen Mazurkewich，《Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting Antiques》，拉特蘭，2006年，圖版154。安思遠舊藏一例，售於紐約佳士得2015年3月17日，編號40。另見一例，錄於 Robert D. Jacobsen ，《Classical Chinese Furniture》，明尼阿波利斯，1999年，圖版1，但以轉枝花卉為主飾。且參見一尺寸較大之例，也沒綴以螭龍，售於香港佳士得2012年11月29日，編號2008。尚有一例可資參考，初售於香港佳士得1994年10月31日，編號413，後又在香港蘇富比2020年7月11日易手，編號140。