Lot Essay
A similar pair from the Qing Shui Shan Fang Collection of Ming and Qing Furniture was sold at China Guardian Auctions in Beijing, October 9, 1995, lot 847. Compare, also, the example illustrated by George Kates in Chinese Household Furniture, fig. 79. Examples without arm struts and with a different arrangement of aprons and stretchers are illustrated by Gustav Ecke, Chinese Domestic Furniture, p. 102, pl. 80, Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. II, p. 43, no. A70; and Robert Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, p. 108, pl. I and Ia. Compare, also, the shape and arrangement of the arms and crestrail with an example illustrated by Stephen L. Little and James Jensen, "Chinese Furniture in the Honolulu Academy of Arts, The Fredric Mueller Bequest", Selected Articles in Orientations, 1984-1994, p. 59, fig. 5. Compare, also, the pair without side posts illustrated by Wang, et al., in Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, p. 48, no. 22 and sold in these rooms September 19, 1996, lot 85
Although these chairs are of traditional design, a particular liveliness has been imparted by the subtle shaping of the parts. The natural sinuous line in the arms and in the front and rear posts is especially pleasing. The matched splats are cut from the same piece of wood and are S-shaped. This form is generally more comfortable than straight or C-curved examples, and the grain patterns revealed tend to be more abstract, maximized by the S-shaped cut through the concentric growth rings of the timber. The apron joints are interesting, with a wedge-shaped dovetail tenon on each side spandrel fitting flush to the back side of the upper apron within a shallow dovetail mortise; as the two pieces are slid together the tenon's wedge shape draws the miter tightly together (see fig. 8b, p. )
Although these chairs are of traditional design, a particular liveliness has been imparted by the subtle shaping of the parts. The natural sinuous line in the arms and in the front and rear posts is especially pleasing. The matched splats are cut from the same piece of wood and are S-shaped. This form is generally more comfortable than straight or C-curved examples, and the grain patterns revealed tend to be more abstract, maximized by the S-shaped cut through the concentric growth rings of the timber. The apron joints are interesting, with a wedge-shaped dovetail tenon on each side spandrel fitting flush to the back side of the upper apron within a shallow dovetail mortise; as the two pieces are slid together the tenon's wedge shape draws the miter tightly together (see fig. 8b, p. )