.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
A pair of identical chairs sold at Sotheby's New York, 3 June 1992, lot 329. A related jumu chair, but with an openwork carved splat and apron, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, et al., Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1990, no. A72. Wang mentions the gourd-shaped post under each arm, also found in the present lot, and notes that there are precedents to be found on Ming horseshoeback folding chairs. One convenient example is the cover lot of this sale.
The carving on the splat of this chair is particularly well-executed and the central panel, depicting a qilin under the boughs of a pine tree, can be related to rank badges of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Those featuring qilin were worn, as decreed by law in 1391, by dukes, marquises, earls and sons-in-law of the Emperor. See S. Cammann, "Ming Mandarin Squares," Textile Museum Journal, 1977, vol. IV, no. 4. This mythical animal is depicted in at least two Ming dynasty huanghuali folding horseshoeback armchairs. The first, the folding chair formerly in the collection of Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh and then the collection of John W. Gruber, sold in these rooms, 16 September 1998, lot 32. The other, formerly in the Wang Shixiang Collection, and now in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999.
The phoenix roundel, too, had imperial associations in the Ming period and was the symbol worn by female members of the court. See V. M. Garrett, Mandarin Squares, Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 34.
The third mythical animal on the backsplat is the dragon, found on rank badges worn by the Emperor and his sons.
The carving on the splat of this chair is particularly well-executed and the central panel, depicting a qilin under the boughs of a pine tree, can be related to rank badges of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Those featuring qilin were worn, as decreed by law in 1391, by dukes, marquises, earls and sons-in-law of the Emperor. See S. Cammann, "Ming Mandarin Squares," Textile Museum Journal, 1977, vol. IV, no. 4. This mythical animal is depicted in at least two Ming dynasty huanghuali folding horseshoeback armchairs. The first, the folding chair formerly in the collection of Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh and then the collection of John W. Gruber, sold in these rooms, 16 September 1998, lot 32. The other, formerly in the Wang Shixiang Collection, and now in the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999.
The phoenix roundel, too, had imperial associations in the Ming period and was the symbol worn by female members of the court. See V. M. Garrett, Mandarin Squares, Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 34.
The third mythical animal on the backsplat is the dragon, found on rank badges worn by the Emperor and his sons.