Austere luminosity of Chinese classical furniture / Sarah Handler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Handler, Sarah.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Furniture--China--History--Ming-Qing dynasties, 1368-1912.

Furniture.

Furniture--Social aspects.

China.

History.

Furniture--Social aspects--China.

Physical Description:

417 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2001]

Summary:

Chinese 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 tenth-century origins 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 their 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, almost a third of them 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:

Introduction: A Taste for Austere Luminosity 1

Revolution and Discovery

1 Rising from Mat to Chair: A Revolution in Chinese Furniture 9

2 A Ming Meditation Chair in Bauhaus Light 25

3 George Kates Discovering Chinese Furniture during the Years That Were Fat 36

Chairs

4 A Yokeback Chair for Sitting Tall 43

5 The Folding Armchair: An Elegant Vagabond 60

6 The Lowback Armchair with Carvings of Bamboo, Magic Fungi, or the Three Friends of Winter 72

7 A Ubiquitous Stool 82

Beds

8 Life on a Platform 105

9 A Couchbed Day and Night for Comfort and Joy 122

10 The Canopy Bed: A Little World Made Cunningly 139

11 On a New World Arose a Kang Table 161

12 A Square Table Where the Immortals Dine 180

13 A Clean Table by a Bright Window 203

14 The Side Table: A Surface for Treasures and Gods 224

Cabinets and Screens

15 Cabinets and Shelves Containing All Things in China 241

16 The Screen: A Movable Wall to Divide, Enhance, and Beautify 268

Stands

17 The Incense Stand and a Scholar's Mystical State 295

18 Lamp Stands and Lanterns: Carriers of Light 303

19 Perfumed Coals in Precious Braziers Burn 319

20 Washbasin Stands for Ablutions and Washing Clean 332.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [345]-393) and index.

ISBN:

0520214846

OCLC:

44818471