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Lot Essay
A single chair of identical form but missing the base stretcher in the Zhu family Mansion is illustrated by Zhu Jiajin in Ming Qing shinei chenshe, Forbidden City Publishing, Beijing, 2004, pl. 183 (see fig. 1). The author is a well-respected authority on imperial furniture and comes from a wealthy family whose residences included mansions formerly belonging to members of the Imperial family. The photograph depicts the interior of one of the author's family residences.
These very distinctive and rare chairs belong to a rare group of Imperial Palace furnishings densely carved to resemble naturalistic vegetation with auspicious connotations. A zitan throne chair densely carved around the entire surface with lotus motifs apart from the seat is illustrated in A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, p. 29, fig. 12; and a zitan table in the Palace carved overall with lingzhi with the exception of the table top is illustrated ibid., p. 262, fig. 301.
These very distinctive and rare chairs belong to a rare group of Imperial Palace furnishings densely carved to resemble naturalistic vegetation with auspicious connotations. A zitan throne chair densely carved around the entire surface with lotus motifs apart from the seat is illustrated in A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, Vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, p. 29, fig. 12; and a zitan table in the Palace carved overall with lingzhi with the exception of the table top is illustrated ibid., p. 262, fig. 301.