The Alcove Bed from Zhejiang, 19 Century

A Fancy Alcove Bed or A Child’s Playhouse

 

Recently my company Three Friends Studio made a major move from the Chicago Merchandise Mart to River Place, just a few miles down from the Chicago River.  In addition, materials stored at the suburban warehouse also made their way to the new place in the city.  The idea is to have the entire collection together.  Despite the careful planning of professionals facilitating the process, the moves were carried out under time constrains, and not at all easy.

One of the greatest fear of moving antiques and furniture with multiple parts was the misplacement or loss of parts.  Sometimes it is not so much the financial loss that I find egregious, but that I fail as the guardian of that object, whose artistic value is ruined because of my negligence. 

Originally I had hoped that everything would fit into a space of 5,900 square feet, just a bit smaller than half of an Olympic size swimming pool.  At the last minute, it was necessary to lease another 4,400 square feet space two floors down.  To my regret, the collection of furniture and antiques is again divided, but I take comfort that they are still under the same roof. 

The layers of friezes that made up the entablature.

The Chinese bed is the most elaborate among the wide variety of furniture types, and the hardest to move.   My husband Michael and I like Chinese beds for their architectonic elements.  They are constructed like miniature houses, the best examples to show off the art of Chinese furniture making.  It is so easy to admire the multiple parts that made up a bed, and forget that no nails were ever used.   Michael likes beds because he is really an engineer at heart, he likes things with multiple parts that can be assembled and taken apart.  I like beds for a totally different reason.  As an art historian who has dabbled in Chinese literature, beds are symbolic and they reflect the user’s taste and wealth.  We have to move four beds that have multiple parts.  I did the best I could by putting identifications on each one, at least on the parts that I could reach in the overcrowded warehouse.  The one piece of furniture that weighed heavily on my mind was an alcove bed, the one that is made of over 70 pieces.  This bed is raised from the ground by a tall two part platform and it boasts of its own sitting area outside of the sleeping quarters, larger enough for two chairs and a small table.  I fear I was quite paranoid when the bed was moved.  Previously it was already taken apart, panels together, posts tied in bundles, and small parts in a plastic crate.  People often perceive me of having an even temperament.  But this time I surprised the movers by being quite bossy when they moved this bed.  I made sure all the carved lintels, poles and panels were blanket wrapped, and the lintels that have protrusions were securely tied to the side of the truck.

Despite my best efforts, the alcove bed could not be moved as a unit, due to its odd shape parts, the movers explained.  So I watched the multiple parts being loaded onto different vehicles as they made their way to River Place.  Now River Place is not the Merchandise Mart.  It only has one freight elevator. So the pieces of furniture and boxes were scattered in the holding area of the dock (thank goodness for that.)  The parts of the alcove bed were scattered onto carts and four wheel movers, and small lintels and framing were placed in a large paper crate called a speed pad on top of a four wheel dolly.  I was literally having a heart attack!  Fortunately it was a Saturday and no one except my crew and the building security were about.  Keeping the bed together was an impossible task!  I had to stop this obsession.  I left it to divine intervention that the parts would eventually find their way back together.

Fast forward a month and two weeks, when serious re-organization took place.  There was finally floor space available to reconstruct the alcove bed.  My identifications did work; my assistant Arnuffo and I were able to gather most of the parts that were scattered in the two warehouses, separated by two floors.  The construction began.  Michael has bad eyesight and Arnuffo does not read Chinese, so there was a problem just lining up the parts whose positions were clearly marked in Chinese characters – right front, middle, back, and so forth.  We began by putting two platforms together, on which there were joints that held joists in place, and in turn held up the panels of the bed.  After arguing which was left or right, we started assembling the bed pieces.  Then we ran out of framing.  Arnuffo went searching in the other warehouse, looking for anything that had the same rich mahogany lacquer finish.  After several attempts, he did find them, though not wrapped in blankets, and not identified.  They did belong, and fit in where they ought to go.  Arnuffo ingenuity of figuring how the parts work was amazing, since assembling this bed was a whole new experience.  When something was missing, he would search around and usually find what was needed.  I felt so useless!  After two hours, the bed was assembled, but it was not complete, it needed finials and a few more decorative panels to finish it off.  

It took many trips to ensemble all the layers.  The 4 characters signify "May Rank and Prosperity last Five Generations"

Decorative frieze above the entry to the sleeping area

We started from the back. The little labels are identifications.

So the bed stood incomplete for a week.   It took a mighty rainstorm to finish the task, though not literally. The necessary accessories were found.  It was the same rainstorm that shut down the music festival Lollapalooza in Grant Park. While closing the windows to avoid a minor flood caused by the pouring rain, I noticed there was an unmarked plastic crate sitting on a table by the window.  It was not accessible before since there were quite a few pieces blocking the way.  There were the carved finials and decorative panels, neatly nestled inside the crate.  I took a deep breath, and did not complain about wiping down rain soaked furniture and mopping up puddles of rain water.

Arnuffo came and placed the accessories on the alcove bed.  The assembly was done, and it looks almost as grand as it once did in a grand mansion in China.  I found miniature chairs and kang tables, and placed them inside the bed and the alcove.  The bed fulfilled all my childhood make-believe play house.  It is my hopes it will find soon find a home as a bed or a wonderful place to play.   

Thank you all for visiting the blog in my long absence.  Since this writing, we have assembled yet another bed, and have two more to go.  Wish me luck that the parts are all there!

               

For my playhouse, I added two miniature chairs, two kang tables, a rug and three masks.