.jpg?maxwidth=3840)
More Information
A REGENCY POLYCHROME-PAINTED DRAGON FORM DAY BED
Circa 1810, the decoration extensively refreshed
With fully sculpted head and neck, the body painted with colored scales, the center upholstered in button-tufted turquoise silk on hipped legs terminating in brass paw caps and castors
76 in. (193 cm.) long
Circa 1810, the decoration extensively refreshed
With fully sculpted head and neck, the body painted with colored scales, the center upholstered in button-tufted turquoise silk on hipped legs terminating in brass paw caps and castors
76 in. (193 cm.) long
A REGENCY POLYCHROME-PAINTED DRAGON FORM DAY BED
Circa 1810, the decoration extensively refreshed
With fully sculpted head and neck, the body painted with colored scales, the center upholstered in button-tufted turquoise silk on hipped legs terminating in brass paw caps and castors
76 in. (193 cm.) long
Circa 1810, the decoration extensively refreshed
With fully sculpted head and neck, the body painted with colored scales, the center upholstered in button-tufted turquoise silk on hipped legs terminating in brass paw caps and castors
76 in. (193 cm.) long
Anonymous Sale, Sotheby's, New York, 24 January 1987, lot 174.
The vogue for the exotic was a distinct and popular style in Regency furniture which this daybed aptly captures. Its dragon form and japanned decoration illustrate the revival of the Chinese taste promoted by the Prince of Wales (later George IV). The Prince's Chinese Room at Carlton House was his first foray into this style and led to his inspiration to create an Oriental interior at Brighton Pavilion. The final achievement, an ornate palace of fantastical proportions, was due to the combined efforts of the Prince himself and the principal designers, John and Frederick Crace, over the next twenty-five years. They imported Chinese curiosities and used them as inspiration for their own exotic furnishings. Part of the interiors reflect the popularity of zoomorphic furniture, with daybeds in the form of crocodiles and consoles supported by fantastic winged beasts. The present lot is illustrated in Brian Reade's Regency Antiques, 1953, fig 20. credited to the collection of Messrs Batsford Ltd., London. A similar fantastic daybed at Brighton Pavilion in the form of an Egyptian boat with crocodile feet is illustrated in Edward Joy, English Furniture,1800-1851, p.92