Lot 946
946
A VERY RARE LACQUERED SOFTWOOD HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIR, QUANYI
A VERY RARE LACQUERED SOFTWOOD HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIR, QUANYI
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PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM KELLY SIMPSON
A VERY RARE LACQUERED SOFTWOOD HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIR, QUANYI

SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

Details
A VERY RARE LACQUERED SOFTWOOD HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIR, QUANYI
SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY
The chair has a sweeping crest rail supported by an S-shaped splat with a lower gilt-lacquered, reticulated panel, and by the elaborately carved, standing struts and the spandrel-enhanced posts that continue through the gilt-decorated seat to form the legs which are joined by a beaded apron and stretchers on the sides. The whole is embellished in the Japanese manner in gold lacquer with floral scrolls and landscapes in hiramakie and takamakie.
40 ½ in. (102.8 cm.) high, 20 ½ in. (52.1 cm.) wide, 26 ½ in. (67.3 cm.) deep

Lot Essay

The present chair belongs to a very small group of furniture constructed in China and decorated in the Japanese manner. Other chairs belonging to this group include a pair from the collection of William Cornelius Van Horne, bequeathed to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; and a pair in the Los Angeles County Art Museum gifted by Lynda and Stewart Resnick (M.2013.53.1-.2) and published and exhibited by Nicholas Grindley, ‘November 1999’, cat. No. 10. Another chair from this group, formerly in the collection of Robert H. Ellsworth, was sold at Christie's New York, 17-18 March, 2016, lot 1322. Of the chairs in this group, the present chair appears to be the only one constructed with a gilt-lacquer-decorated softwood seat, which appears to be original to its construction, and is not fitted with the more commonly seen soft mat seat.

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