A rare and long huanghuali corner-leg bench, errendeng, Ming dynasty, 17th century | 明十七世紀 黃花梨有束腰馬蹄足羅鍋棖二人凳

C.L. Ma Antiques, Hong Kong, 1989.

馬可樂，樂成行，香港，1989年

The present bench exemplifies a restrained elegance, achieved through its simianping or ‘four corner’s flush’ construction, with the legs seamlessly align with the top frame. This particular design is considered one of the most captivating and timeless features of Ming dynasty furniture. It is extremely rare to find corner-leg bench with humpback stretchers, see a similar example illustrated in Wang Shixiang, ming shi jiaju zhenshang (appreciating Ming-Style Furniture), Beijing, 2006, no.35, another related example of similar design from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection, was sold at Christie’s New York, 24 July 2020, lot 74.

方材，直足，內翻馬蹄，足間有羅鍋棖，採用有束腰家具的基本形式，束腰較寬，凳面格角攅邊鑲軟屜，冰盤沿弧形內收壓邊線，造型端正，用材考究，是標準的明式黃花梨二人凳，而非一般民間用具。類似的長凳，南方較為常見，北方則稱為二人凳，只有尺寸較大，接近小榻的才叫春凳。二人凳和條桌、條案的形製基本相同，區別在於高矮，造型簡約經典耐看。

同式帶束腰及羅鍋棖之二人凳在已知出版物中並不多，唯見北京木材廠藏一例，著錄於王世襄，《明式家具珍賞》，北京，2006年，編號35。另見一尺寸較大黃花梨二人凳，為賽克勒舊藏，後售於紐約佳士得，2020年7月24日，拍品編號74。