A rare 'huanghuali' washbasin stand (Mianpenjia), Qing dynasty, 18th century

Peter Lai Antiques, Hong Kong, 1992.

Combining the functions of supporting a wash basin and serving as a towel rack, the present work is both a highly practical piece of furniture and a decorative work of art in its own right. Such forms were common in the private quarters of wealthy women of the Ming dynasty, and they are attested to in both paintings of the period and in miniatures found in Ming-dynasty tombs, including that of Pan Hui (1502-1586) and his son, Pan Yunzheng (1533-1589), as illustrated by Nancy Berliner in Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 2000, p. 152, cat. nos 30l and 30m.

The crestrail of the present example is boldly carved with confronted dragon heads, their mouths agape and their beards spilling onto the sides of the rail. Below, in the corners between the crestrail and the upright posts, abstract scrollwork spandrels are suggestive of both clouds as well as the bodies of the dragons above. The geometric decoration continues into the central openwork panel, which is again carved with scrollwork in the form of interlocking lingzhi heads. Compare the present work with another huanghuali wash basin stand that utilizes scrollwork at the spandrels and central panel to similar effect (although with lingzhi sprays on the crestrail), formerly in the collection of Chen Mengjia, illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 185, pl. E42. 

For further discussion of wash basin stands, see Sarah Handler, 'Ablutions and Washing Clean: The Chinese Washbasin and Stand,' Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Autumn 1991, pp 23-26.