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Lot Essay
The southern official’s hat armchair is one of the most popular forms in Chinese furniture construction. It differs from the official’s hat armchair in that its crest rail continues into the back rails as opposed to extending beyond them. The style of the present example is therefore also known as a continuous yokeback armchair. The dramatic sweeping rails, tall back splat and plain elegant form make the present armchair a rare example of its type.
Several similar examples of southern official’s hat armchairs are published. See an example of the same form with carved back splat and aprons, illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, 1990, Hong Kong, p. 47, no. A76. A smaller pair of this type with similar back splat, but with carved aprons is illustrated by Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley in Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pp. 52-3, no. 9. Compare, also, the pair of armchairs of 17th century date, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2026.
Several similar examples of southern official’s hat armchairs are published. See an example of the same form with carved back splat and aprons, illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, 1990, Hong Kong, p. 47, no. A76. A smaller pair of this type with similar back splat, but with carved aprons is illustrated by Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley in Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pp. 52-3, no. 9. Compare, also, the pair of armchairs of 17th century date, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2026.