Lot 299. Property from the Richard & Jane Manoogian Foundation. A rare and magnificent 'huanghuali' six-post canopy bed (Jiazichuang), 17th century. Height 228.6 cm; Width 217 cm; Depth 147.5 cm. Estimate 600,000 - 800,000 USD. © Sotheby's 2025

Provenance: Ming Furniture, Ltd., New York, 16th September 2004.

Literature: Sarah Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, 2005, p. 73.

Exhibited: Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, 2004-2024 (on loan).

Note: Sumptuously carved with auspicious wan motif railings and sinuous chilong medallions, this magnificent canopy bed is an extraordinary example of seventeenth-century aristocratic splendor. Employed in the inner quarters by both men and women, beds were the focal point of the house’s private setting, and six-post canopy beds were the most luxurious and impressive type of bed that one could own.

While used by both sexes, canopy beds were particularly important pieces of furniture in the women's domestic setting. Seventeenth-century households that adhered to Confucian norms confined women to the inner courtyards of a family compound, away from the front of the house where important male visitors were received and official functions took place. Bedrooms were informal rooms where women spent many of their waking hours, thus their furnishings, especially the bed, were important status symbols, indicating their position within the family.

During the daytime, canopy beds were used as seats for informal leisure: a long table and footstool were placed in front of the bed for comfortable reading or eating, while a few stools and chairs could be arranged around the bed for a casual gathering. At night, curtains were draped from within the bedframe to protect from drafts or insects, as well as prying eyes. These curtains were carefully chosen as their color and patterns complemented the intricate openwork carving of the railings. The seventeenth-century scholar Wen Zhenheng, in his influential Zhang wu zhi [Treaties on Superfluous Things], discusses which fabrics should be used on canopy beds: “Bed curtains for the winter months should be of pongee silk or of thick cotton with purple patterns. Curtains of paper or of plain-weave, spun-silk cloth are both vulgar, while gold brocaded silk curtains and those of bo silk are for the women’s quarters.”

Most importantly, beds were where children were conceived and their decoration is often filled with auspicious omens that reflect this function. On this bed, sinuous chilong – young hornless dragons – dominate the design and represent the aspiration of conceiving meritorious sons; the wan motif found within the railings represents prosperity and longevity.

Six-post canopy beds are essentially a room within a room as their design aesthetic mirrors principles of Chinese classical architecture. Their six-post construction mimics three-bay buildings such as pavilions, where the roof is supported by posts and the lack of walls merges outdoor and inner space. The sophisticated openwork railings recall a building’s balustrade, which have the dual function of creating interest through their decoration and increasing stability. In addition, the upper panels under the canopy roof are carved to allow air circulation similarly to the panels under the eaves of buildings.

The design of the present example balances the intricacy of carving found in the railings and canopy panels with the simplicity of form in the legs and aprons that is characteristic of late Ming dynasty furniture. The aprons of the frame are cusped in the traditional late Ming style, with a generous beaded edge, which extends onto the sturdy cabriole legs; the latter terminate in ruyi-form feet with a single leaf extending from each outward corner. The six posts are interspersed with ornate railings, with panels of interlocking wan motif composed of short, intricately joined, square members below a band of circular medallion struts carved in the form of coiled chilong. At the canopy, the wan motif is again found in a single panel that stretches across the length of the front of the bed. More sedately-carved shaped aprons with foliate details at the corners extend below the wan panel at the front, and across the back and sides just below the canopy. The canopy panel is joined with interlocking members in a simple, ‘cracked ice’ pattern. The two side aprons each have two circular apertures, possibly later added, for hanging drapery. 

A very closely related example, with wan motif railings and similarly shaped aprons on the frame, resides in the Palace Museum in Beijing, illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 135, pl. C17; the Beijing example, however, lacks the gallery of chilong medallion struts above the wan motif railings found on the present example. Another very closely related example, which includes the chilong medallion struts but above railings with a ruyi motif, is in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, illustrated on the Museum’s website (accession no. CI00004130). Compare, also, with a similar but slightly more elaborate example with a waisted frame, formerly in the collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung, sold in our London rooms, 7th December 2022, lot 40 (Fig. 1), as well as another more ornate example formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 9th October 2020, lot 53.

Fig. 1. Formerly in the collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung. An impressive pair of large huanghuali and camphor wood compound cabinets (Sijiangui), Late Ming dynasty; 225.5 by 155 by 206.5 cm. Sold for 478,800 GBP at Sotheby's London, 7th December 2022, lot 40. © 2022 Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: https://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2022/12/25/39757613.html

An Exceptional and Rare Huanghuali Six-Post Canopy Bed, Ming Dynasty, 17th Century; 226 by 156.2 by h. 226 cm. Sold for 23,165,000 HKD at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 9th October 2020, lot 53​​​​​​​. Courtesy Sotheby's.

Cf. my post: https://www.alaintruong.com/archives/2020/09/26/38555714.html