DRUM STOOLS

Suitable both as a sturdy seat or as a display stand for plants or other decorative items, the Chinese drum stool has become a popular element in decor, and not only in China, where it is considered a distinctive Chinese design icon. Drum stools have been part of the Chinese tradition for at least a thousand years, and records of them in use date to paintings of the Song dynasty (960–1279), where they can be seen as casual seating both indoors and outdoors. No actual stools survive of this age; most antique stools come from no further back than the late Ming dynasty. Although almost always made of blue-and-white or multicolored porcelain, some drum stools are handcrafted by artisans known for dazzling lacquerware and woodcarving. Others are made of brass, which is antiqued and finished to resist rust. On all, the characteristic nail-head motif around the upper and lower rim recalls the original construction, in which, exactly like drums, skins were secured as seating over the barrel structure. The decoration of most drum stools is based on traditional designs steeped in ancient Chinese history. Many exhibit common natural and cultural motifs, often adapted from ancient and well-loved art themes. The motifs include birds, animals and flowers, and sometimes tell stories or poems, adding a lyrical element to the simple beauty of the design.

The courtyard of an old shanghai shikumen (stone gate house) with a set of blue-and-white hexagonal porcelain drum stools arrayed around a ceramic pedestal table.

An antique stool in a rich blue-green glaze inside the door of a shikumen in shanghai.

A drum stool used indoors, in traditional blue-and-white.

Above right an antique gold-and-black painted wood hexagonal rice canister in the form of a drum stool and intended for casual seating.

In the corner of a kitchen, a white porcelain drum stool next to a metallic finish table.

A contemporary ceramic stool with a metallic silver finish.