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Lot Essay
This chair, must belong to the group of five other huanghuali round-back folding chairs that is thought to originate in the same workshop, so similar are their majestic proportions, large scale and distinctive silver-inlaid iron hardware. See S. Handler, "The Elegant Vagabond: The Chinese Folding Chair," Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 146, and R. D. Jacobsen and N. Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, p. 56.
The present lot has an entirely uncarved splat, unlike the other five chairs which have carved splats. Two of the five have splats that are carved allover. The chair formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, illustrated by Wang, et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, San Francisco and Chicago, 1995, p. 74, no. 35, and sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 50, has three carved registers on the splat, with a chi dragon on the uppermost, a shou character on the central and a scrolling dragon on the lower. The chair in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, has vertical floral scroll carved on its splat. Both of these chairs are illustrated by S. Handler, op. cit., pp. 146-7, figs. 1 and 2.
The three other chairs in the group are a set and have more restrained carving on the splat, each with a single small dragon medallion on the upper section. One of the three was formerly in the Chen Mengjia Collection, Beijing, and illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, pl. 57. The second is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu quanji, gongyi meishu bian, zhumu ya jiao qi, vol. 11, Beijing, 1988, p. 127. The third, sold by Sotheby's New York, 18 September 1996, lot 311, is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art and illustrated by R. D. Jacobsen, op. cit, p. 57, no. 11. Discussing the Chen Mengjia and Minneapolis chairs, Jacobsen states that they are considered to be the earliest extant examples of this category, and this view supports an early date for the Beijing chair as well as the comparable, though not completely similar, present lot.
All six chairs in the group have the common feature of silver designs hammered into the cross-hatched iron surface. Handler, op. cit, p. 49, suggests that this technique was introduced into China by artisans from Tibet. The rhinoceros horn and coin design on the metal footrest plaque are symbols which form a rebus offering protection from poison to the seated person.
There is another group of huanghuali horseshoeback folding chairs with brass, and not silver-damascened, mounts. In this group is the chair formerly in the collections of Mr. Frederic Mueller and the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, New York, 1971, p. 88, col. pl. 26, and sold in these rooms, 29 November 1990, lot 395. Wu Tung, "From Imported 'Nomadic Seat' to Chinese Folding Armchair," JCCFS, Spring 1993, p. 38, fig. 1, illustrates a pair of similar folding chairs in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which have splats carved with a landscape. This design is repeated on a folding chair in the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena. A folding chair in the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, Hong Kong, with a ruyi medallion splat, is illustrated by Robert H. Ellsworth, et al., Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 66-7, no. 13. See, also, the folding chair formerly belonging to Wang Shixiang and now at the Shanghai Museum, with a carved pierced central splat, similar to the present example and depicting a qilin amidst cloud scrolls, illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, op. cit. Yet another chair, formerly in the collections of Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh and John W. Gruber, was sold in these rooms, 16 September 1998, lot 32.
For a discussion of the metalwork mounts on chairs, see C. Evarts, "Uniting Elegance and Utility: Metal Mounts on Chinese Furniture", JCCFS, Summer 1994, p. 41, figs. 20 and 20a. For a more general discussion on the role of the folding armchair within the context of the history of Chinese furniture, see L. H. Stowe, "The Chair in China", JCCFS, Spring 1991, p. 60 fig. 24. Other examples of folding armchairs are illustrated in Wang Shixiang, "Jianyue Minglian" ("The Beauty of Ming Furniture"), GWY, May 1993, no. 122, p. 6.
The present lot has an entirely uncarved splat, unlike the other five chairs which have carved splats. Two of the five have splats that are carved allover. The chair formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, illustrated by Wang, et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, San Francisco and Chicago, 1995, p. 74, no. 35, and sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 50, has three carved registers on the splat, with a chi dragon on the uppermost, a shou character on the central and a scrolling dragon on the lower. The chair in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, has vertical floral scroll carved on its splat. Both of these chairs are illustrated by S. Handler, op. cit., pp. 146-7, figs. 1 and 2.
The three other chairs in the group are a set and have more restrained carving on the splat, each with a single small dragon medallion on the upper section. One of the three was formerly in the Chen Mengjia Collection, Beijing, and illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, pl. 57. The second is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Zhongguo Meishu quanji, gongyi meishu bian, zhumu ya jiao qi, vol. 11, Beijing, 1988, p. 127. The third, sold by Sotheby's New York, 18 September 1996, lot 311, is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art and illustrated by R. D. Jacobsen, op. cit, p. 57, no. 11. Discussing the Chen Mengjia and Minneapolis chairs, Jacobsen states that they are considered to be the earliest extant examples of this category, and this view supports an early date for the Beijing chair as well as the comparable, though not completely similar, present lot.
All six chairs in the group have the common feature of silver designs hammered into the cross-hatched iron surface. Handler, op. cit, p. 49, suggests that this technique was introduced into China by artisans from Tibet. The rhinoceros horn and coin design on the metal footrest plaque are symbols which form a rebus offering protection from poison to the seated person.
There is another group of huanghuali horseshoeback folding chairs with brass, and not silver-damascened, mounts. In this group is the chair formerly in the collections of Mr. Frederic Mueller and the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, illustrated by R. H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, New York, 1971, p. 88, col. pl. 26, and sold in these rooms, 29 November 1990, lot 395. Wu Tung, "From Imported 'Nomadic Seat' to Chinese Folding Armchair," JCCFS, Spring 1993, p. 38, fig. 1, illustrates a pair of similar folding chairs in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which have splats carved with a landscape. This design is repeated on a folding chair in the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena. A folding chair in the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, Hong Kong, with a ruyi medallion splat, is illustrated by Robert H. Ellsworth, et al., Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 66-7, no. 13. See, also, the folding chair formerly belonging to Wang Shixiang and now at the Shanghai Museum, with a carved pierced central splat, similar to the present example and depicting a qilin amidst cloud scrolls, illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, op. cit. Yet another chair, formerly in the collections of Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh and John W. Gruber, was sold in these rooms, 16 September 1998, lot 32.
For a discussion of the metalwork mounts on chairs, see C. Evarts, "Uniting Elegance and Utility: Metal Mounts on Chinese Furniture", JCCFS, Summer 1994, p. 41, figs. 20 and 20a. For a more general discussion on the role of the folding armchair within the context of the history of Chinese furniture, see L. H. Stowe, "The Chair in China", JCCFS, Spring 1991, p. 60 fig. 24. Other examples of folding armchairs are illustrated in Wang Shixiang, "Jianyue Minglian" ("The Beauty of Ming Furniture"), GWY, May 1993, no. 122, p. 6.