LIFE BEYOND FIRST CLASS
This outstanding huanghuali day-bed with humpback stretchers, ta, Ming dynasty, circa 1550-1600, will go under the hammer at Bonhams London New Bond Street saleroom on May 13th, 2021. One of the main highlights of the auction, “The H Collection: Chinese Furniture, Archaic bronzes, and Japanese Art,” the day-bed is an exceptionally early example remarkably fashioned from huanghuali sections of unusually large size, making it an exceedingly rare piece. It would have been used both for both daytime sitting and night-time sleeping. Several woodblock prints dating to the Ming dynasty often depict scholars and Court ladies sitting on similar benches in indoor and outdoor settings. Formerly in the collection of David S. Utterberg (1947- 2020) and Nayda Utterberg, Seattle, it was published by one of the leading Chinese furniture scholars, Sarah Handler, in 1993.
An Important and Exceedingly Rare Huanghuali Day-Bed with Humpback Stretchers, Ta, Circa 1550-1600, Estimate: £800,000-£1,200,000