17TH/18TH CENTURY

细节

A RARE HUANGHUALI AND WUMU SOUTHERN OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, NANGUANMAOYI
17TH/18TH CENTURY
With sweeping crestrail above the S-shaped splat divided into three sections, the uppermost finely carved with a roundel of two chilong biting each other's tail, the central section left plain, and the bottom section carved as a shaped, beaded apron, all framed by thin, lustrous sections of wumu, the high arm rails supported on tall stiles and descending to the front posts, the soft mat seat set within the rectangular frame with rounded edge, above plain, beaded aprons in the front carved in openwork with ruyi heads at the corners, repeated in similar fashion on the sides, and with plain aprons and spandrels at the rear, all supported on legs of rounded-square section joined by stepped stretchers and the footrest above a plain, shaped apron
37½ in. (95.2 cm.) high, 22½ in. (57.1 cm.) wide, 18 in. (45.6 cm.) deep

来源

Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, 1994.

出版

Sharon Leece and Michael Freeman, China Style, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 57.

荣誉呈献

Christopher Engle

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拍品专文

Because it was costly and only grew to a small diameter, wumu, or ebony, was rarely used as a structural material in Chinese furniture, but rather as a decorative element. This is seen, for example, in the four-shelf huanghuali bookcase with wumu railings illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 122, no. 57, later sold by Christie's, New York, 19 September 1996, lot 80.
The present chair, which combines wumu for the framework of the splat and the equally prized huanghuali for the structural elements, ranks as a fine example of the subtle way skilled carpenters would combine rare materials and high quality carving and craftsmanship to create a most pleasing aesthetic. This combination can also be found on a huanghuali and wumu meiguiyi in the present sale (lot 2024).