Rose chair again
——Also remember the Zhenmu Hall Tibetan Huanghuali Ganoderma lucidum pattern rose chair
Text/Tan Xiangdong
In June 1959, Mr. Zhu Jiaming published an article entitled "Talking about Chairs and Stools and Their Format" in the magazine "Cultural Relics", which first proposed the concept of the rose chair, but it did not seem to attract attention at that time, until Mr. Wang Shixiang's "Research on Ming-style Furniture" was published, and the rose chair was listed as a kind of chair, which was widely known. The industry generally believes that the rose chair originated from the "folded-back" chair mentioned by Li Kuangyi in the late Tang Dynasty, perhaps out of the rigorous style of the older generation of scholars, Professor Chen Zengbi did not involve the rose chair in the "Tang and Song Dynasty "Folded-back" chair.
In the history of Chinese furniture research, the origin of the name of the rose chair and the shape characteristics have been widely discussed.
1
About the name of the rose chair
Due to the lack of in-depth research, the "Devil's Chair Theory" and "Meiyu Theory" have been repeatedly mentioned for a long time, although they have obvious flaws. At the end of 2021, Mr. Zhang Zhihui's article "A Little Discussion on the Rose Chair - Also Talking about Chen Jiru and Meigong" clarified the paradoxes of the two statements, which is reasonable and well-founded, and will not be repeated here. It is rare that after detailed research in the article, the view that the rose chair is a false rumor of the "Meigong chair" was put forward has been widely recognized, especially by people in the industry who are familiar with the local dialect in the Jiangnan area.
I think so, too. Zhihui has profound professional qualities, rigorous academic attitude, and is diligent in exploration and research. The article is well-researched, the arguments are solid, and the logic is clear, and the assertion is the most convincing view until new evidence emerges. I have also studied related topics, and I would like to make some additional comments here.
(1) The reason why the "eyebrow chair" did not appear in the Wanli Ye chapter
Shen Defu in "Wanli Ye Won the Edition" "Thing with People" contains: "Recently, my friend Chen Meigong made flower cloth, flower valerian, silk quilt and cake bait, Hu bed, and utensils, etc., which are also crowned with their words, and the cover is also fashionable. "Regardless of whether Shen Defu is a friend of Chen Ru for the time being, Shen's research Han Xizai made a light gauze hat, Luo Yin's reduced sample square flat hat, Su Shi's Dongpo chair and Dongpo scarf, and Qin Hui's (juniper) Taishi chair Taishi Mali, all of which are relied on, and the things crowned by Chen Meigong have not been described in detail. The furniture category only mentions the Hu bed, which is not clearly a chair.
Shen Defu wrote 20 volumes of Wanli Yeshu between the 34th and 35th years of Wanli (1607), and compiled 10 volumes of the Continuation in the 47th year of Wanli (1619). An excerpt of the "Thing with People" is in the twenty-sixth volume, which means that Shen Defu recorded the official affairs of the eyebrows no later than 1619. Chen Meigong died in 1639, so it seems that Chen Ji's Confucian "Meigong Chair" was completed after the completion of the "Sequel", that is, between 1619 and 1639. Therefore, the wild harvest chapter has not seen its name.
(2) The geographical limitations of the "eyebrow chair".
The novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties are an excellent place to collect furniture historical materials, such as the "Golden Vase Plum" Jiexiu Edition, which was engraved in the 45th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, which mentions no less than 265 places of furniture, and the vocabulary involving chairs and utensils includes chairs, school chairs, Taishi chairs, cool chairs, drunkard chairs, Dongpo chairs, thrones, Beijing chairs, low chairs, Dharma seats, public chairs, and Zen chairs. In terms of time, the publication of the golden bottle may have preceded the creation of the Meigong chair. In terms of region, according to Liu Xinwu's research, Jin Zhumei tells the story of the Shandong gentry, so the author may be from Shandong, and it is not surprising that he has not heard of the "Meigong Chair".
"Dream of Red Mansions" is also an excellent historical reference for furniture, and there is no "Meigong chair", presumably in Cao Xueqin's time, "Meigong chair" has not yet been introduced to the capital.
It is speculated that for a long period of time, the name "Meigong Chair" may not have spread to the northern region, but was only popular in the south of the Yangtze River, due to the Gaine dialect.
(3) It may be the basis for the shape of the "eyebrow chair".
Nanjing Museum collection of Qianlong five years Xu Zhang painted, Songjiang "Bangyan Portrait Album" 100 portraits 99 (some descendants copy supplement, nameless ten people), the portrait is the Ming Dynasty Songjiang sages who can be on a par with Suzhou painted as portraits, which have Ni Zhan, Dong Qichang, Mo Shilong, Shen Du, etc., of course, there are Chen Jiru.
Among the 99 portraits, there are 5 chairs, 3 root chairs, 1 circle chair, 3 quadruple chairs, and 3 people (Zhang Shangwen, Yan Zheng, and Anonymous) sitting in low-backed armchairs, accounting for one-fifth of the chairs.
Portrait of Zhang Shangwen in Songjiang's "Portrait Album of Bangyan".
Matsue《Kunihiko Image册》之无名氏像
Matsue《邦彦画像册》之颜正像
Obviously, the seats of the three portraits basically belong to the category of rose chairs. Chen Meigong was born in Songjiang, lived in seclusion in Songjiang for the rest of his life, and his "Meigong chair" should be known to women and children in Songjiang Mansion, and it is widely used. In terms of the share of chairs in portraits, this type of low-backed armchair is quite popular.
The chair seen in the portrait had an exclusive title at that time; According to the description of the Chronicle of Long Things, the root knot chair belongs to the category of Zen chairs (Wen Zhenheng: Zen chair, 'with the rooftop rattan for it, or the roots of ancient trees, such as the dragon is bent and bloated'); The four-out head chair is classified as an official hat chair. The chairs in the catalogue can all be found with corresponding names, but the chairs in these three portraits were not called at the time. Then, it is very likely that these local chairs in Songjiang are "eyebrow chairs".
The above discussion is believed to be beneficial to the view that the "Meigong Chair" is falsely rumored to be a rose chair. Looking forward to more information to close this unsolved case in the history of furniture.
2
A historical look at the Rose Chair
Styling features
Mr. Wang Shixiang elaborated in "Research on Ming-style Furniture" that the rose chair "is directly inherited from the Song Dynasty style", that is, "folded back style". In addition to the description of the rose chair, in addition to the fact that "the backrest and armrests are relatively low, and there is not much difference in height between the two", the important point is that the two are "perpendicular to the chair plate". At the same time, the book lists seven cases of rose chairs, all of which have a common feature, that is, the backrest "brain" and armrests are straight, and they are not out, and the head is higher than the armrest. However, he did not summarize this. Due to the great influence of Mr. Wang Shixiang's writings, since the 80s, these styling features of the rose chair have been solidified in the industry's cognition:
1. The backrest is not high, and the height of the backrest is not more than twice the height of the armrest, and there must be a gap between the two.
2. The plane formed by the backrest and armrests is perpendicular to the chair plate.
3. The backrest and armrests are straight.
4. The backrest and the brain are not outstanding.
From the "folded back style" to the rose chair, in terms of modeling, Li Kuangyi of the late Tang Dynasty said: "Short leaning (armrest) Heng (horizontal brain), called 'folding back like'." Words are no more than half the back". This means that the height of the backrest is not more than half of the person's back; Mr. Zhu Jiaming said: "Its chair back is lower than the average chair back"; Nothing else.
Judging from the historical images of the Song and Ming dynasties, there are many chair shapes that meet Li Kuangyi's definition of "folded back style", not only the styles in "Ming Style Furniture Research", and these shapes will develop with the evolution of history, but will not be completely annihilated. We'll try to explore that.
(1) The relationship between the position of the brain and the armrest
There is no doubt that in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the folded backs of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties accounted for the majority, and these images are familiar to everyone, and there are too many to mention. For example, Li Gonglin of the Northern Song Dynasty of the Shanghai Museum, Zhang Xunli's "Bogu Picture of the Fireplace" and the anonymous "Bogu Map" of the Southern Song Dynasty in the National Palace Museum of Taipei, the anonymous "Four Hao Pictures of Shangshan" in the Southern Song Dynasty of the Liaoning Museum, Qiu Ying's "Bamboo Garden Pingu" of the Ming Dynasty in the Palace Museum, and Li Yin's "Cohabitation Map" of the Qing Dynasty in the Athletics Museum, etc.
Anonymous Southern Song Dynasty "Bogutu"
Qing Dynasty Li Yin's "Cohabitation Map"
The folded back of the backrest slightly higher than the armrest also existed in the Song Dynasty, such as the Northern Song Dynasty Li Gonglin (biography) "Gao Hui Xiqin Picture" in the Taipei National Palace Museum, the Yuan Dynasty Qian Xuan's "White Drawing Character Story Atlas" in the collection of the Freer Art Museum, the anonymous "Xia Shu Chess Sound Map" in the Yuan Dynasty of the Taipei National Palace Museum, and the anonymous "Shangyuan Lantern Color Map" in the Ming Dynasty in the old collection of Xu Zhengfu and so on.
Yuan Dynasty Qian Xuan "White Character Story Atlas"
Therefore, regardless of whether the armrests are flush or not, as long as they are "less than half the height of the back", they should be classified as folding back samples, that is, rose chairs.
For example, the Forbidden City Tibetan Nanmu low back chair.
Nanmu low back chair
(2) Whether the armrests are out of the head
In the Song Dynasty paintings, the folded back is like a handrail. The Palace Museum collects the Song Dynasty Anonymous "Southern Tang Dynasty Wenhui Map", the Southern Song Dynasty Zhou Jichang's "Five Hundred Arhats" in the Dade Temple in Japan, the Southern Song Dynasty Zhang Xunli's "Circumference Bogu Picture" and the Ming Dynasty Guo Chun's "Character Map", the Ming Dynasty classical literary print "Character Scroll Sima Qian", the early Qing Dynasty "Golden Vase Plum" illustration, etc., the handrails are level with the brain, and the handrails do not come out but the handrails come out.
Southern Song Dynasty Zhang Xunli "Surrounding the Fireplace Bogutu"
Ming Dynasty Guo Chun "Figures"
For example, the Jiajing beech low-backed chair is left in the Jiajing collection.
Stay in the Jiajing style beech low-backed chair
(3) Whether the armrest is only linear
Figure 3 of this article Yan Zheng sits on the back of the Songjiang folded back, the head and hind feet are arc-shaped, and the goose neck is also bent into an S shape; The Yuan Dynasty of the National Palace in Taipei is an anonymous "Xia Shu Chess Sound Map", two fold-back chairs, one with a brain armrest arc-shaped connection, slightly curved; The other is a folded angle between the head and the hind foot.
Anonymous Yuan Dynasty "Summer Chess Sound Map"
Tsinghua University Art Museum has an anonymous Ming Dynasty "Pavilion Gaoyi Tu", the small chair on the boat in the lower left corner has a special structure, and its brain is curved.
Ming Dynasty anonymous "Pavilion Gaoyi Tu" part
In the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the cold coins of the early Qing Dynasty "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden Picture Scroll", the armrests and back panels of the five bamboo chairs are all bent materials.
Leng Mei "Spring Night Banquet Peach and Plum Garden Picture Axis"
A private collection of Qing Dynasty Hua Rong's "Six Sketches of Zhuxi", a pair of black comb-backed chairs, all the components of the armrests and backrests are basically curved. Its shape is almost the same as that of the Forbidden City's rosewood comb back chair. Mr. Zhu Jiawei in the article "Talking about the Chair and Stool and Its Format", he identified it as Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty.
Hua Rong "Six Pictures of Bamboo Creek"
Rosewood comb back chair
Similar to the rose chair made of bent wood, there are not a few surviving houses, such as the four-in-one Ruyi pattern rose chair at the Minneapolis Museum in the United States, the dragon pattern rose chair in the old collection of the Jade Mountain House in Hong Kong, and the three-sided comb back rose chair in the aftermath and so on.
The chairs and examples in the above images are all in line with Li Kuangyi's folded back style, and of course, we can generalize these chairs as armchairs. In order to visually express its styling features, it must be attached as a low-backed armchair. According to this naming method, usually the rose chair in our concept should be changed to a low straight-backed Nanguan hat chair.
To sum up, whether chairs that meet the above characteristics can be included in the category of rose chairs, and then subdivided according to their characteristics, such as "straight back, curved wood, flat back, two heads", etc., for easy naming. Of course, this is just a personal opinion.
The Huanghuali Ganoderma lucidum pattern rose chair in this auction is a good example if you can't understand its shape and characteristics just in terms of its name. And this is a chair, everyone will call it a "rose chair", which is also a contradiction.
The Ganoderma lucidum rose chair, its beauty and preciousness, needless to say. The history of its collection is well known. More than ten years ago, when I saw this chair in Zhenmu Hall, I fell in love with it, and after careful observation, I found that the chair foot was protected by wooden strips and copper nails, and it was added when it was slightly worn at the beginning of the product. Even so, the wooden strips and copper nails are already clearly worn, indicating that they have been used for many years. This approach is in line with what Wen Zhenheng said in "The Chronicle of Long Things": "Where you step on it, you must use bamboo inlay, and it will not be bad for a long time." Or even inspired by the chronicles of long things.
On December 2, 1994, Christie's in New York auctioned a pair of rose chairs with similar shapes, but unfortunately the overall line was tired and could not be compared with the charm of this product. In contrast, it can be seen that there should be a clip flower between the large side and the leg and foot cross.
Christie's, New York, 1994
The only decoration of this product is the Ganoderma lucidum card flower between the two horizontal bars of the rear column, the Ganoderma lucidum is plump and full, the branches and leaves are elegant, and the hair grows naturally. The Forbidden City has a yellow pear and begonia pattern moon cave door shelf bed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and the waist is inlaid with mandarin ducks playing in the water Ganoderma lucidum fairy grass pattern flower board, and the Ganoderma lucidum carving knife is skillful and neat, which is as smart and natural as the Ganoderma lucidum card flower of this product.
Begonia pattern moon cave door shelf bed partial
According to experts from the Forbidden City, the table top is rosewood, and the girdle and below are mahogany, and it is speculated that the mahogany part should be repaired in the middle and late Qing Dynasty. The Ganoderma lucidum pattern carved on the mahogany of the painting table is flat and thin, and the branches are scattered, dull and stiff, and it looks plain and unremarkable. Another imitation of the red sandalwood painting table in the same Forbidden City during the Republic of China is limited by materials and skills, the shape is restrained, and the carving knife is weak and weak, which is incomparable with the early Ganoderma lucidum pattern.
Rosewood mahogany Ganoderma lucidum pattern painting table
It can be seen that there are not many furniture art skills, and the finishing touch is often a masterpiece that is difficult to surpass.
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