A HUANGHUALI DAYBED, TA MING DYNASTY, 16TH – 17TH CENTURY | 明十六至十七世紀 黃花梨裹腿做矮老涼榻

The Gangolf Geis Collection.

Christie's New York, 18th September 2003, lot 20.

Gangolf Geis 收藏

紐約佳士得2003年9月18日，編號20

Daybeds, ta, are among the oldest type of furniture made in China. Popular since the Han dynasty, when they elevated high-ranking individuals, by the Ming period these raised rectangular platforms were used both in scholar's studios and in sleeping quarters. More commonly made to accommodate only one person, the impressive proportions of the present example would have made it an ideal double-bed at night and a practical living platform during the day.

The rounded members of this daybed and its stretchers, which encircle the legs and create a double-moulded design, imitate bamboo furniture construction. Bamboo had long proved a popular furniture medium: not only was this wood traditionally associated with virtuous qualities in a scholar, its flexibility and natural roundness allowed craftsmen to create furniture that was comfortable, light and attractive. Ming dynasty cabinet-makers recreated these qualities in precious hardwood through a laborious process of carving and lathing.

Daybeds of such large dimensions are unusual, and those carved to simulate bamboo are seldom known. A ta of this design, but conceived as a single bed, and with double-ring struts, in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, was included in the Museum's exhibition Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu, 1981, cat. no. 12; and another was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4077. See also a line drawing of a daybed of this design, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture. Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, vol. 2, pl. C1.

榻，乃中式家具古老款樣之一，自兩漢已風靡，供貴冑睡臥，及至明代，除常置臥室，亦可入書房。涼榻雖多為一人用，然現例尺寸寬綽，可臥二人，起居皆宜。

此榻部件圓實，裹腿棖四面交圈，乃仿竹製家具。長久以來，竹製家具受人喜愛，因竹之挺拔氣節素為文人所仰，且竹柔韌圓活，宜造輕便之物。明代工匠取名貴木材傾力打磨，活現竹之靈秀。

榻大如斯已不多見，仿竹製者更罕。可比一例，構造相似，然僅容一人臥，帶雙環矮老，檀香山藝術博物館藏，曾展於該館《Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections》，檀香山，1981年，編號12；另一例，售於香港佳士得2012年5月30日，編號4077。亦參考一白描例，見王世襄，《明式家具研究》，香港，1990年，卷II，圖版C1。