MING DYNASTY, 16TH-17TH CENTURY

The ‘southern official’s hat’ armchair is probably one of the most popular and iconic forms in Chinese furniture construction. The elegant and visually striking inlaid decoration on the present chair’s back splats is characterized by the usage of different materials, such as various hardstones, mother-of-peal and other materials. This inlay technique can more frequently be found on smaller objects, such as brushpots or dressing cases. For further discussion and illustration on small hardwood objects of different shapes and functions with ‘hundred-treasure-inlay’ technique, see Curtis Evarts, Liang Yi Collection. Vol. III. Small Objects, Hong Kong, 2007, p. 62 ff.

A huanghuali nanguanmaoyi with similarly decorated back splat inlaid with mother-of-pearl, ebony, boxwood and horn is illustrated by Nancy Berliner, Beyond the Screen. Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, pp. 109-110, no. 10. Another pair of huanghuali 'southern official’s hat' armchairs decorated with a bird perching on blossoming plum and pomegranate branches, respectively, is illustrated by Curtis Evarts, Liang Yi Collection. Vol I. Huanghuali, Hong Kong, 2007, pp. 60-61, no. 13. A closely related pair of 'southern official’s hat' armchairs of similar heights (127.6 cm) is illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce, The Best of the Best-The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, Vol. 1, Beijing, 2017, p. 250-253.