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Lot Essay
While examples of horseshoeback armchairs in huanghuali are readily known, one of the most rare variations of the form is the continuous rail horseshoeback armchair. The delicate, simple lines are what give the form its elegant appearance, while at the same time making it somewhat fragile. This may be the reason why so few extant examples survive.
Two pairs of continuous rail horseshoeback armchairs, one in huanghuali and one in zitan, are in the Hung Collection, and illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 78-81, nos. 19-20, where they are dated to the Kangxi period. A second pair of related horseshoeback armchairs, although of a much more complex design, are illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce in The Dr. S.Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, pp. 30-1, no. 5, where they are dated to the late 16th or early 17th century. However, the closest in form to the present pair may be seen in a line drawing illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 50, pl. A82.
Two pairs of continuous rail horseshoeback armchairs, one in huanghuali and one in zitan, are in the Hung Collection, and illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 78-81, nos. 19-20, where they are dated to the Kangxi period. A second pair of related horseshoeback armchairs, although of a much more complex design, are illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce in The Dr. S.Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, pp. 30-1, no. 5, where they are dated to the late 16th or early 17th century. However, the closest in form to the present pair may be seen in a line drawing illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 50, pl. A82.