Portable dressing table; China, Qing dynasty, Guanxu period (1875-1908).

Portable dressing table; China, Qing dynasty, Guanxu period (1875-1908).
Huanghuali wood, glass and brass handles.
Measurements: 22,5 x 32 x 33,5 cm.
Portable dressing table made of wood with brass handles and glass sconces. Emperor Guangxu also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule China proper. His reign, which lasted from 1875 to 1908, was largely dominated by his aunt, Empress Dowager Cixi. Guangxu initiated the radical Hundred Days Reform, but it was abruptly interrupted when the empress dowager staged a coup d'état in 1898. After the death of Emperor Tongzhi in 1875, Empress Dowager Cixi installed her four-year-old nephew as Emperor Guangxu, contravening Qing dynastic custom.