A large 'huanghuali' daybed (Ta), Ming dynasty, 17th century | 明十七世紀 黃花梨馬蹄足榻

Standing proudly atop four grand legs, accentuated by the most subtle of beaded edges and a thin ogival waist, the present ta bed is an exemplary piece of Ming dynasty furniture. Favouring subtle forms that highlight the beauty of the hardwood grain over the more florid decoration of later periods, Ming cabinetry has long been praised for its robust design aesthetic which still whispers of centuries past while possessing a contemporary almost Bauhaus quality, remarkably well-suited to contemporary settings. 

Although beds of this type are generally called daybeds in English, their function extended equally to both day and night. Moved into the garden for daytime entertaining or behind a screen for the solitude of sleep, the minimalist and lightweight design of the ta (‘daybed’) made it an invaluable feature of any Chinese household. 

Daybeds of this type with in-turned hoof feet and without stretchers are rare. Compare a miniature of this form found among other models of furniture in the Ming dynasty tomb of Pan Yunzheng (d. 1589) now in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Art, vol I, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 17, fig. 1.3a; another very similar huanghuali ta of narrower size, illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, p. 116, fig. 8.14; and another almost identical example illustrated in a line drawing in Wang Shixiang, op. cit., vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. C2. 

Developed in tandem, but with additional sides and back panels, the couch-bed (luohanchuang) also served a similar function in Ming furnishing and provides a useful point of comparison. See a large huanghuali example of similar proportions from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, with very similar legs and waist to the present lot, illustrated in Handler, op. cit., p. 134, fig. 9.15.