Style Analysis of Traditional Red-painted Wooden Bed in Taiwan : Focusing on 1880-1960 Existent Samples

Abstract

This research concentrates on style analysis of traditional red-painted wooden bed of Taiwan; the main purpose of this paper is to discover factors of style of that period. The analysis is based on 62 existent samples collected in the field survey, to compare historical transformation of redpainted wooden bed in Taiwan. The results are as follows, (1) the bed was a vital symbol of the user's status in the age of Ching dynasty (1880-1912) which was influenced by Han culture, the ornamental work of bed in that period was traditional Chinese style; (2) in Japanese occupation era (1912-1945), new materials and technology were channeled to Taiwan, bed was shifted to crafts arena in this period, the ornamental work was traditional Chinese style coexisting with Western and Japanese mutually; and (3) the traditional red-painted wooden bed became popular after 1945, the ornamental skill and context became related with mass manufacture productions.