Chinese Ming Qing Dynasty - Furniture Design History - Palace Museum Collection For Sale

Chinese Ming Qing Dynasty - Furniture Design History - Palace Museum Collection

Ming–Qing Furniture (Volume I) Complete Collection of Masterpieces of Cultural Relics from the Palace Museum edited by Edited by Zhu Jiajin, National Expert in Cultural Relic Authentication.

This volume presents a comprehensive survey of Ming- and Qing-dynasty furniture from the Palace Museum collection, organized according to functional type and structural form. Seating furniture forms a major component of the catalogue and includes a wide range of chairs, armchairs, stools, and benches. Among these are southern and northern official’s hat chairs, round-back armchairs, folding chairs, straight-backed chairs, horseshoe-back chairs, square stools, and low sitting benches. These pieces are represented in a variety of elite hardwoods—most notably huanghuali, zitan, and ironwood—and include examples both with and without recessed waists, as well as pieces featuring plain, relief-carved, or openwork decoration.

Tables and stands constitute another substantial category and encompass square tables, rectangular tables, long tables, recessed-waist tables, kang tables designed for use atop heated brick platforms, altar tables used in ritual or display contexts, and small side tables and stands. These tables range from restrained, single-plank designs emphasizing proportion and joinery to more elaborate examples incorporating carved aprons, framed tops, and decorative leg profiles. Many are associated with scholarly interiors, reception halls, or ceremonial spaces, reflecting their varied functions within elite domestic and court life.

The catalogue also includes furniture designed for reclining, rest, and display, such as couches, daybeds, and low platforms, which were commonly used in studios or reception rooms. Storage furniture is represented through cabinets, wardrobes, chests, boxes, and shelving units, including bookcases and clothes racks. These pieces demonstrate both practical storage solutions and refined aesthetic treatment, often combining architectural structure with restrained ornamentation.

Screens and screen-related furnishings form an important concluding category. These include floor screens, table screens, and openwork carved screens used to divide space, provide visual focus, or enhance ceremonial and domestic interiors. Many examples feature pierced carving, relief decoration, or panel construction, emphasizing craftsmanship and spatial design rather than surface embellishment alone.

Across all categories, the catalogue highlights the defining characteristics of classical Chinese furniture: the use of precious hardwoods, reliance on mortise-and-tenon joinery, careful attention to proportion and balance, and a preference for structural clarity over excessive ornament. Together, the furniture types documented in this volume illustrate the full range of seating, working, resting, storage, and spatial-dividing furniture used in elite Ming and Qing environments, presenting Ming-style furniture as a mature design system that continued to shape Qing court production and remains foundational to the study of Chinese classical furniture.

Condition and Other Details:

• Large hardcover, about 9\" x 12\". Please note that the book has a clear plastic cover and the jacket appears to be in excellent condition, Front flyleaf has been folded over and creased, please see photo. Published in 2002, 268 pages.