A Rare Round Stool

Materials and Date

Bamboo, 18th century

H

47cm (18½in)

D

42cm (16½in)

Full Description

Round drum-shaped stools are one of the most successful and evocative of all the designs in classical Chinese furniture. It is a design that became very popular in the Ming dynasty and examples were made in a great variety of materials ; precious woods such as huanghuali and zitan, marble, stone, ceramic and lacquer. However, the basic design for all of these stools derives from bamboo drum stools such as this one. The strength and malleability of bamboo allowed for pieces to be steamed and bent into shape and be fastened together with strips of thin bamboo. This design was often used with a softwood top and base, as in this example, and then lacquered all over. The result is the visual achievement of “roundness” or “ wholeness” coupled with a structural stability and a sense of lightness.

Despite their great popularity wooden examples of drum stools are quite rare and bamboo examples, perhaps due to their greater fragility are particularly so.