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| 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 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.
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| 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 River Place
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.
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| It took many trips to ensemble all the layers. The 4 characters signify "May Rank and Prosperity last Five Generations" |
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| Decorative frieze above the entry to the sleeping area |
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| 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
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!
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| For my playhouse, I added two miniature chairs, two kang tables, a rug and three masks. |
