MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

The structural design of mirror stands is based on floor screens with inset panels and fixed bases. These mirror stands were placed on dressing tables for ladies, with the mirrors standing against the central panel and held up with a U-shaped support. Cosmetics and ornaments were stored in the drawers located to the lower front. See a similar mirror stand, formerly in the collection of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, published by C. Evarts in 'The Classic of Lu Ban and Classical Chinese Furniture,' JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 41, fig. 19, and in Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts. Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 148, no. 70, and sold at Christie's, New York, 19 September 1996, lot 56. Another example is illustrated in the exhibition catalogue, Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, 16 January - 14 February 1982, p. 64, no. 46. Several mirror stands were sold at Christie’s, including one sold at Christie's Paris, 19 December 2012, lot 106; one sold at Christie's New York, 16 - 17 September 2010, lot 1209; and one sold at Christie's Los Angeles, Myth and Reality: Animals in Chinese Art, 7 May 1999, lot 93.