[VOL II] BOUDOIR AND BEDCHAMBER OF A LADY OF RANK

BOUDOIR AND BEDCHAMBER OF A LADY OF RANK

Cover Image: Boudoir and Bedchamber of a Lady of rank / China / Drawn by T. Allom Engraved by W.Floyd – ALAMY Image ID:2X4BD3B

*A noblewoman’s boudoir.

“What! woman, the treasure, the gem, the flower!
The star that is bright in the wildest hour;
The bird that comes singing to the stern breast—
Ah! should we not teach it to love its nest!”

BARRY CORNWALL

LESS crowded with articles of furniture than the apartments of ladies of quality in England, the decorations of a bedchamber and boudoir in China are not less costly or complete—a suite of rooms being appropriated to the females of the mandarin’s family, to which the husband, children, and female relations and attendants are alone admissible; these are uniformly fashioned, and fitted and furnished in a style of beauty and convenience that displays both taste and liberality. It is the custom, in which something of Chinese artifice is infused, to give a character of magnitude to the mandarin’s mansion, by covering a great area with one-storied corridors, and pavilions, and galleries, and vestibules; from this weak ambition the females derive some advantage, their apartments being generally extended along a delightful pleasure-ground, or carried round an artificial lake, with all the usual accompaniments of rustic bridges and fancy rock-work. From these grounds and gardens a porch opens into a veranda, or vestibule, protected at the entrance by a silken curtain, and conducting to the boudoir and bed-rooms of the matron and her daughters.

Uniformity pervades the habits of high life amongst the Chinese, as amongst Europeans, and the arrangements and decorations of one suite will therefore sufficiently illustrate those of a class. In the vestibule are always tables or stools, or stands of fancy workmanship, either lacquered-ware or bamboo, on which jars, vases, basins, tripods, trays, are placed, each containing some sweet-smelling flower, some aromatic plant, some delightful perfume, the fragrance of which is wafted into the inner chambers by the current which follows the drawing of the curtain. A lantern, sure index of Chinese conservatism of customs, depends from every ceiling, made either from paper, from silk, or horn, and painted in colours of brightness, and after designs of a fertile fancy. The sleeping apartment is always the innermost, and the bed itself is usually placed in a recess adapted for its reception, enclosed by curtains of silk or cotton, in the colder months and northern provinces, but protected only by a mosquito-net in the sultry season and lower latitudes.

In every civilized country, attention to the toilet is inseparable from the duties of a lady of quality, and the Chinese present a distinguished example of devotion in this respect. Glass mirrors have long been in use in China, although little progress has been made in the art of glass-making generally, the manufactures of Europe being largely imported, and every chamber is resplendent with looking-glasses, in some of which the external landscape, and the passers-by, are distinctly seen by the fair inhabitants, without the trouble of rising from their couches. These mirrors are of very thin and inferior glass, scarcely thicker than good English writing-paper, but are skilfully coated with an amalgam which renders them abundantly truthful in reflecting the features.

Every matron in the higher ranks is waited on by a number of handmaids, whose kindness and attentions contribute to enliven that portion of time which the mistress, in conformity with etiquette, must dedicate to the toilet, and pass in seclusion. Smoking is an indulgence at which female delicacy here feels no repugnance; and, while one hand is occupied holding the decorated pipe, the other is engaged in supporting a mirror of convenient size; a lady of the boudoir is sometimes busied in arranging her mistress’s hair,introducing amidst the plaits and braids,either flowers,or jewels,or bright-coloured ribbons. The unmarried wear their hair in long tresses, two plaited tails depending from the back of the head; but after marriage the hair is all drawn back from the forehead, and fastened with bodkins of gold or silver on the crown, where a profusion of ornaments is customary. Amongst the luxuries of the mandarin’s lady, who is never unacquainted with literature, music occupies a prominent place; and, while her handmaids may not be skilful in that delightful accomplishment, a female minstrel, whose sole profession consists in wandering from place to place, and beguiling, by her melody, the lingering hours of unoccupied life, is admitted to sing a favourite air, and accompany herself on the pepa, or four-stringed guitar.

In every boudoir stands a cabinet filled with cosmetics, paint-pots, fans, little shoes, hair pencils, china bottles, &c., no contrivance that ingenuity can suggest being omitted to produce that effect which constitutes in China the idea of beauty. Eye-brows, thin, dark, and arched, are considered beautiful—these, art can form; a fair skin is so great an object of admiration, that the defects of nature in this respect are sought to be subdued by various applications; and, the contrast of the rose and the lily is produced by a very liberal use of the colour of the former. It is only a tribute to truth and justice— it is only an acknowledgment due to female excellence in China, to state, that when age has blanched the blush of youth—when time has thinned and frosted o’er the jet-black locks, and the race of life now is mid-way run, from that moment all vanity and ambition in dress are abandoned, and that care so anxiously bestowed upon heightening the personal charms of the mother, is transferred with a zeal as boundless to the decoration of the daughter. The matron now puts on the plainest raiment, her hair is smoothed, and no flower, or gem, or ribbon employed to divert attention from its faded lustre—no vain effort made to conceal the approaches of old age; the respect that years command in China being then deemed a sufficient passport in society. Whatever the principle may be on which this custom is rested and resorted to—whatever system of morals or philosophy may claim the merit of the institute, the wisdom of the practice, even excluding all considerations of innate affection or laudable generosity, would accord with a holier light than has hitherto shone upon China.