Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical FurnitureChinese classical furniture is esteemed throughout the world for its beauty, functionalism, and influence on contemporary design aesthetics. Sarah Handler's stunningly illustrated volume traces Chinese hardwood furniture from its earliest origins in the Shang dynasty (c. 1500 to c. 1050 B.C.) to the present. She offers a fascinating and poetic view of Chinese furniture as functional sculpture, a fine art alongside the other Chinese arts of calligraphy, architecture, painting, and literature. Handler, a widely respected scholar of Chinese furniture, uses her knowledge of Chinese social, political, and economic history to provide a backdrop for understanding the many nuances of this art form. Drawing on literary and visual evidence from excavated materials, written texts, paintings, prints, and engravings, she discusses how people lived, their notions of hierarchy, and their perceptions of space. Her descriptions of historical developments, such as the shift from mats to chairs, evoke the psychological and sociological ramifications. The invention of a distinctive way to support and contain people and things within the household is one of China's singular contributions, says Handler. With more than three hundred exquisite illustrations, many in color, Handler's comprehensive study reveals "the magical totality of Chinese classical furniture, from its rich surfaces and shrewd proportions down to the austere soul of art that resides in the hardwood interiors." Austere Luminosity recognizes Chinese classical furniture as one of China's premier arts, unique in the furniture traditions of the world. |
Contents
I | |
II | 5 |
IV | 21 |
VI | 32 |
VIII | 39 |
IX | 56 |
XII | 52 |
XIII | 62 |
XIX | 141 |
XX | 183 |
XXIII | 204 |
XXVI | 221 |
XXVII | 248 |
XXIX | 275 |
XXXI | 283 |
XXXIII | 299 |
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Common terms and phrases
apron bamboo beading Beijing brazier bronze Buddhist cabinets cabriole legs canopy bed Cao Xueqin carved chair-level China Chinese Furniture Society Christie's Images Chubanshe Classical Chinese Furniture classical furniture cloud-head color on silk couchbed curved decorated depicted dragons drawers Dunhuang edge excavated feet FIGURE folding armchair frame front Golden Vase Han dynasty Handler handscroll hardwood Height Henan Hong Kong Honglou meng Huanghuali wood incense Ink and color Jin ping mei juan kang table Kwang-chih Chang lacquer Lu Ban Ming and Early Ming dynasty motifs Museum of Art openwork ornamented Palace Museum panels pieces platform Plum railings rectangular Sancai tuhui scholar screen scroll seat Shanghai Shanxi Sheng Shōsōin Shuju side Song spandrels splat square tables stone stool Taipei Tang tenons tomb trans University Press waist Wang Shixiang Wen Zhenheng Wenwu Press width Woodblock illustration wooden yokeback chairs Yuan Zhenheng Zhongguo Zhou zitan