A HUANGHUALI SOUTHERN OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, NANGUANMAOYI

Details

A HUANGHUALI SOUTHERN OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, NANGUANMAOYI
17TH CENTURY
The bow-back toprail continuing to straight corner posts extending to the back legs below the rectangular frame with a soft-mat seat, the backsplat comprising three sections, the upper panel with a ruyi cloudhead aperture with openwork of symmetrically scrolling leaves from which emerges a tapering bud, the central panel of well-figured nanmu burl, the lower with an arching, cusped opening, the curving armrests continuing to the front corner posts, supported on serpentine side posts, the legs joined by plain aprons, each side with an additional round stretcher, the footrest supported on a narrow, plain apron
36½in. (93cm.) high, 22in. (56cm.) wide, 17 3/4in. (45cm.) deep

Literature

Wang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, p. 68, no. 32

Lot Essay

Compare the example, formerly in the Alice Boney Collection, with a single-piece splat pierced with a cloudhead and a cusped apron continuing along the height of the legs, illustrated by Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, p. 120, no. 12

Another example, but with horizontal side rails, in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, is illustrated by Mary Yule, "Recent Acquisitions", The Art Quarterly of the National Art Collection Fund, no. 17, Spring 1994