Lot Essay
Three other folding chairs of very similar proportions and with similar metal mounts, probably produced by the same workshop, are known to be in existence. One is in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, and another is in the collection of Chen Mengjia, Beijing; both are illustrated by Sarah Handler, op. cit. The Nelson-Atkins chair is also included in the exhibition, Beyond the Screen, and illustrated by Nancy Berliner in the Catalogue, no. 3, where she discusses the imperial use of such folding chairs. For the third, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, see Zhongguo meishu quanji; gongyi meishu bian; zhumu ya jiao qi (The Great Treasury of Chinese Fine Arts; Arts and Crafts; Objects of Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Horn), vol. 11, p. 127, p. 152
One of the main differences between the chairs is in the decoration of the backsplats. The Nelson-Atkins Museum chair is adorned with scrolling vines above a mountain, while the chair in the Chen collection has a splat with a ruyi head. The present chair has a wider splat with different and more ornate decoration
All the chairs have mounts with silver designs hammered into the cross- hatched surface, rather than the more usual technique of inlaying into grooves. It is suggested by Handler, op. cit., that the former technique was introduced into China by artisans from Tibet
According to Wang et al., p. 74, the rhinoceros horns and coins on the footrest plaque form a rebus that 'represents symbolic protection from any attempt to administer poison'
For a full comparison of this chair with two of the others see Handler, op. cit. See, also, Gustav Ecke, "The Development of the Folding Chair; Notes on the History of the Form of the Eurasian Chair", JCCFS, Winter 1990, p. 11. Refer, also, to the article by Wu Tung, "From Imported 'Nomadic Seat' to Chinese Folding Armchair", JCCFS, Spring 1993, pp. 38-47
In addition to this group of chairs with mounts inlaid with silver design, there exists another group with undecorated baitong or brass mounts. Refer to the huanghuali chair, formerly in the collection of Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, sold by Sotheby's, New York, October 18-19, 1990, lot 618. A chair of this type, formerly in the collections of Mr. Frederic Mueller and The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, and illustrated by Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, p. 88, col. pl. 26, was sold in these rooms, November 29, 1990, lot 395
One of the main differences between the chairs is in the decoration of the backsplats. The Nelson-Atkins Museum chair is adorned with scrolling vines above a mountain, while the chair in the Chen collection has a splat with a ruyi head. The present chair has a wider splat with different and more ornate decoration
All the chairs have mounts with silver designs hammered into the cross- hatched surface, rather than the more usual technique of inlaying into grooves. It is suggested by Handler, op. cit., that the former technique was introduced into China by artisans from Tibet
According to Wang et al., p. 74, the rhinoceros horns and coins on the footrest plaque form a rebus that 'represents symbolic protection from any attempt to administer poison'
For a full comparison of this chair with two of the others see Handler, op. cit. See, also, Gustav Ecke, "The Development of the Folding Chair; Notes on the History of the Form of the Eurasian Chair", JCCFS, Winter 1990, p. 11. Refer, also, to the article by Wu Tung, "From Imported 'Nomadic Seat' to Chinese Folding Armchair", JCCFS, Spring 1993, pp. 38-47
In addition to this group of chairs with mounts inlaid with silver design, there exists another group with undecorated baitong or brass mounts. Refer to the huanghuali chair, formerly in the collection of Mrs. Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, sold by Sotheby's, New York, October 18-19, 1990, lot 618. A chair of this type, formerly in the collections of Mr. Frederic Mueller and The Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, and illustrated by Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, p. 88, col. pl. 26, was sold in these rooms, November 29, 1990, lot 395