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Lot Essay
In the past decade few other chairs of this extraordinary form and with brass mounts have come up for auction. The present brass-fitted lot is notable for its exceptionally handsome qilin-carved splat. The qilin is an imperial symbol, corresponding to rank badges of the Ming and Qing dynasties. As decreed in 1391, badges featuring the qilin were worn by dukes, marquises, earls, and sons-in-law of the emperor.
Two other known brass-mounted folding armchairs feature this mythical animal. One with a carved pierced central splat depicting a qilin amidst scrolling clouds, was formerly in the collections of Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh and John W. Gruber (sold in these rooms, 16 September 1998, lot 32). The other, formerly belonging to Wang Shixiang and now at the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999.
Also included in the brass-mounted group of horseshoeback armchairs 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', Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, 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 R.H. Ellsworth, et al., Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 66-67, no. 13.
The six remaining known huanghuali round-back folding chairs are thought to originate from the same workshop, so similar are their proportions and distinctive silver-inlaid iron fittings. See S. Handler, 'The Folding Armchair, An Elegant Vagabond', Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, ch. 5, and R.D. Jacobsen and N. Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, p. 56.
References to this group may be found as follows. The chair formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, with three carved registers on the splat, is illustrated by Wang, et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, San Francisco and Chicago, 1995, p. 74, no. 35, and was sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 50. The chair in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, has a vertical floral scroll carved on its splat, and is illustrated by S. Handler, 'The Elegant Vagabond: The Chinese Folding Chair', Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, pp. 146-147, figs. 1 and 2.
Three other chairs in the group come from a set, and have a small dragon medallion carved on the splat. One of the three was formerly in the Chen Mengjia Collection, Beijing, and illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 57. The second is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji; gongyi meishu bian; zhumu ya jiao qu, Beijing, 1988, vol. 11, p. 127. The third, sold by Sotheby's New York, 18 September 1996, lot 311, is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and illustrated by R.D. Jacobsen, op. cit., p. 57, no. 11.
The remaining damascened horseshoeback armchair, formerly in the collection of Dr. Elizabeth A. Sackler, by descent, was sold in these rooms, 16 October 2001, lot 254.
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 Chinese furniture history, see L.H. Stowe, 'The Chair in China', JCCFS, Spring 1991, p. 60, fig. 24.
Two other known brass-mounted folding armchairs feature this mythical animal. One with a carved pierced central splat depicting a qilin amidst scrolling clouds, was formerly in the collections of Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh and John W. Gruber (sold in these rooms, 16 September 1998, lot 32). The other, formerly belonging to Wang Shixiang and now at the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated on the cover of Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999.
Also included in the brass-mounted group of horseshoeback armchairs 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', Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, 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 R.H. Ellsworth, et al., Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 66-67, no. 13.
The six remaining known huanghuali round-back folding chairs are thought to originate from the same workshop, so similar are their proportions and distinctive silver-inlaid iron fittings. See S. Handler, 'The Folding Armchair, An Elegant Vagabond', Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, ch. 5, and R.D. Jacobsen and N. Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, p. 56.
References to this group may be found as follows. The chair formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, with three carved registers on the splat, is illustrated by Wang, et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, San Francisco and Chicago, 1995, p. 74, no. 35, and was sold in these rooms, 19 September 1996, lot 50. The chair in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, has a vertical floral scroll carved on its splat, and is illustrated by S. Handler, 'The Elegant Vagabond: The Chinese Folding Chair', Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations, pp. 146-147, figs. 1 and 2.
Three other chairs in the group come from a set, and have a small dragon medallion carved on the splat. One of the three was formerly in the Chen Mengjia Collection, Beijing, and illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 57. The second is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji; gongyi meishu bian; zhumu ya jiao qu, Beijing, 1988, vol. 11, p. 127. The third, sold by Sotheby's New York, 18 September 1996, lot 311, is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and illustrated by R.D. Jacobsen, op. cit., p. 57, no. 11.
The remaining damascened horseshoeback armchair, formerly in the collection of Dr. Elizabeth A. Sackler, by descent, was sold in these rooms, 16 October 2001, lot 254.
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 Chinese furniture history, see L.H. Stowe, 'The Chair in China', JCCFS, Spring 1991, p. 60, fig. 24.