A RARE PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HEXAGONAL ARMCHAIRS

Prospective purchasers are advised that several co… Read more

Together, Raymond Hung and Mimi Wong amassed one of the most comprehensive and celebrated collections of Chinese furniture in Asia. The collecting couple were drawn to the elegant lines and beautiful woods found in Classical Chinese furniture. The mid-1980s was an exciting time to be collecting Chinese furniture. Important and informative examples emerged in China fuelling leaps in scholarship and influencing connoisseurship. Into this exciting atmosphere, Raymond Hung entered the market, which enabled him to study and collect some of the rarest and most important examples.The collection was shaped by preeminent New York dealer, Robert H. Ellsworth, who with the publication of his 1971 Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples from the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasty inspired a new generation of scholars and collectors to the field. This seminal book re-shaped the discussion around Chinese furniture and remains one the defining publications dedicated to the subject. Under Ellsworth’s guidance, Raymond Hung sought significant examples in huanghuali and zitan, but also expanded the collection to include important lacquer examples and refined scholar’s objects. Their relationship developed into an everlasting friendship with frequent visits to Mr. Ellsworth’s New York apartment and estate in Connecticut.In 1996, Robert Ellsworth published Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, volume I and followed this publication with volume II in 2005. In 1998, highlights from the collection were exhibited at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco and published in the accompanying catalogue, Essence of Style: Chinese Furniture of the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties.Mr. Raymond Hung currently serves as the Executive Committee Director of the Min Chiu Society, an organization he has been a member of for over 25 years. During his collecting journey, Mr. Hung has had the opportunity to learn from and acquire works from the most distinguished dealers of Chinese furniture, including Robert H. Ellsworth, Hei Hunglu and Albert Chan of Chan Shing Kee. He is indebted for their attention, experience, and scholarship.PROPERTY FROM THE RAYMOND HUNG COLLECTION

A RARE PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HEXAGONAL ARMCHAIRS

QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HEXAGONAL ARMCHAIRS
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Of rare hexagonal shape, the mat seat is set within a carved double-moulded frame below the straight back and sides, fitted with slender vertical spindles. The whole is raised on five legs of rounded section inset with plain aprons and shaped spandrels, and are joined by low stretchers at the sides and a foot rail at the front.
33 1/2 in. (85 cm.) high, 24 3/4 in. (63 cm.) wide, 17 in. (43.5 cm.) deep

Literature

R. Hatfield Ellsworth, N. Grindley and Anita Christy, Chinese Furniture - One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, vol. 1, New York, 1996, pp. 88-89, no. 24.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory, tortoiseshell and crocodile. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

Hexagonal chairs appear to be a variant on the more commonly seen rectangular low-back armchairs, meiguiyi, also known as a ‘rose’ chair. This type of chair was popular in the Ming dynasty for its light construction and elegant appearance. Extant examples of hexagonal low-back armchairs are very rare, though evidence for this form exists in woodblock prints and paintings. One scroll from the set of twelve hanging scrolls from the Twelve Beautifies in the Yuanmingyuan dated to the Kangxi period, 1709-1723, depicts an elegant lady seated in a spotted bamboo hexagonal low-back chair while viewing antiques placed on a gilt-lacquer table (fig. 1). Similar to the present example, the spotted bamboo-hexagonal chair is also constructed with vertical spindles in the arms and back.

The most comparable example of the present pair of chairs was in the Philippe De Backer Collection (Lu Ming Shi Collection) and illustrated in Ming, l’Age d’Or du Mobilier Chinois, Paris, 2003, p. 102, pl. 22, which display similar use of the vertical spindles and shaped aprons below the seat. A pair of zitan hexagonal low back armchairs with vertical spindles and intertwined double circle struts are illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce in Chinese Classic Furniture: Selections from Hong Kong & London Gallery, Hong Kong, 2001-2002, p. 42, no. 12. See, also, the huanghuali hexagonal armchair with tall back and curved, three-part splat, illustrated by Wang Shixiang et. al., Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 51, no. A80. Compare, another single huanghuali armchair with cusped aprons below the seat and stepped stretchers sold at Christie’s New York, 17 September 2008.

Related chairs with unusual seat construction include a pair of zitan armchairs with begonia-shaped seats illustrated by G. Wu Bruce in Zitan Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 24, no. 8 and a pair of fan-shaped huanghuali armchairs illustrated by N. Grindley and F. Hufnagel, Pure Form: Classical Chinese Furniture: Vok Collection, Munich, 2004, pls. 20 and 21.

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