Lot Essay
The form of the present pair of armchairs is often called 'four corner's-exposed', and is one of the earliest classic forms found in huanghuali furniture design. A number of variations on this type are known, including those with rounded ends, such as the present pair, or cut-off squared members, those with plain splats,and those with added decorative carving or embellishment.
A jichimu ‘official’s hat’ armchair of similar broader proportions in the body, and flattened crestrail with rounded ends is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 44, pl. A71, and is currently at the Nanjing Museum. Another pair in huanghuali ‘official’s hat’ armchairs of related proportions, but with cut-off squared members, was sold at Christie’s New York,16 January 2019, lot 28.
A jichimu ‘official’s hat’ armchair of similar broader proportions in the body, and flattened crestrail with rounded ends is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 44, pl. A71, and is currently at the Nanjing Museum. Another pair in huanghuali ‘official’s hat’ armchairs of related proportions, but with cut-off squared members, was sold at Christie’s New York,16 January 2019, lot 28.