A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOEBACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI
Property from a Philadelphia Collection
A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOEBACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI

17TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOEBACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI
17TH CENTURY
The curving toprail extending beyond the 'goose-neck' side and front corner posts and terminating in out-curved hooks above shaped spandrels, the backsplat with an ogival ruyi cloud-head medallion, with beaded, shaped flanges below the toprail, the back corner posts continuing through the mitred hard-mat seat frame to form the back legs, the legs joined by low, stepped stretchers and footrest, the front legs with arch-shaped aprons to the front and side with single-beaded decoration
39½ in. (100.3 cm.) high, 23½ in. (59.7 cm.) wide, 18 in. (45.7 cm.) deep (2)

Lot Essay

Horseshoeback armchairs of this type are represented in many public and private collections. The major distinguishing feature other than the form of these chairs is the decorative carving usually found on the splat and the apron. For a discussion of this design, see R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasty, New York, 1971, pp. 86-7, and Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 43-5.

Examples of this popular style in huanghuali include a similar pair with a carved ruyi-head panel on the flanged splat illustrated by Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 99, as well as a set of armchairs with uncarved apron and flanged splat, with arms continuing into the 'goose-neck' side posts, also illustrated by Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, ibid., p. 60, no. 28, also sold 19 September 1996, lot 41. A pair of horseshoeback armchairs with plain splat and shaped apron was sold in these rooms, 20 March 2000, lot 10.
See, also, the pair of armchairs with outward-projecting arms illustrated by S. Keppel, "The Well-Furnished Tomb", Part 1, JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 17, fig. 11; and by C. Evarts, "The Classic of Lu Ban and Classical Chinese Furniture, JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 36.

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