Couch-bed luohan chuang Huanghuali wood Late Ming (1573 – 1644)

Of elegant proportions, the seat frame of standard mitre, mortise and tenon construction with exposed tenons on the short sides and supported by three transverse braces, mortised, tenoned into the long members of the frame. There are two additional braces mortised and tenoned into the short frame members and the transverse braces at each end for further support. It was drilled for soft seat and has been restored with coconut webbing and old mat seat. The edge of the frame is completely flat and the flat aprons are mitred, mortise and tenoned into and half-lapped onto the straight legs ending in low hoof feet. Rectangular stretchers are mortised and tenon into the top of the legs, behind the aprons for further support. These stretchers originally made of soft wood are now replaced. The back and the arms are made of a single piece of wood with bread board ends and finish in a graceful outward curve at the top.

Macau, 2003, The Macao Museum of Art “The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture”

Grace Wu Bruce, Chan Chair and Qin Bench: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 100 – 101

Similar Examples:
Laurence Sickman, ‘Simplicity and Subtlety: The Decorative Arts in China’, Apollo, March 1973, London, p. 270 for an example of a plain huanghuali couch-bed in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
Nancy Berliner, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996 for another example

Couch beds with original back and arms made of huanghuali wood datable to the classical period are extremely rare. The rarity of this type stems from the fact that the arms and back are easily removable and prone to become dislocated from their base.
This classic couch bed of excellent modelling is completely plain, of elegant proportions, a superb example. The strong linear lines of the seat, legs and low shaped hoof feet combined with the very gently arched back and arms convey the essence of guzhuo, loosely translated as ancient and primitive simplicity, evoking a sense of timelessness, harmony and calm.