A PAIR OF RARE HUANGHUALI CABRIOLE-LEG STOOLS, FANGDENG

Details

A PAIR OF RARE HUANGHUALI CABRIOLE-LEG STOOLS, FANGDENG
17TH/18TH CENTURY

The square frame with 'ice-plate' edge, enclosing a soft-mat seat, above a narrow waist, supported on elegantly curved cabriole legs with outward-turning scrolled feet, the cusped apron finely carved with a pair of confronted dragons flanking intertwined scrolling tendrils, the flattened animal masks on the shoulders extending down towards pendent floral motifs, the humpback stretchers terminating on either end in gaping monster heads, one stretcher partially replaced
21¼in. (54cm.) high, the top 20½in. (52cm.) square (2)

Literature

Sarah Handler, "Outstanding Pieces in Private Rooms: Chinese Classical Furniture in New American Collections", Orientations, January 1993, p. 50, fig. 11
Sarah Handler, "The Ubiquitous Stool", JCCFS, Summer 1994, p. 15, figs. 19 and 19a
Wang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, p. 36, no. 17

Lot Essay

There is a group of nine of these stools known to be in existence, including this pair, although the latter are unusual in that they are almost entirely original. Another example with replaced feet and added floor stretchers belonging to the Beijing Hardwood Factory Collection is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Classic Chinese Furniture,
p. 67, no. 24, and again by him in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. II, p. 24, A22