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Lot Essay
Horseshoeback armchairs of this type are represented in many public and private collections. The major distinguishing feature other than the form of these chairs is the decorative carving usually found on the splat and the apron. For a discussion of this design, see R. H. Ellsworth,Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasty, New York, 1971, pp. 86-7, and Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 43-5.
Examples of this popular style in huanghuali include a similar pair with a carved ruyi-head panel on the flanged splat illustrated by Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, sold Christie's, New York, 19 September 1996, lot 99, as well as a set of armchairs with uncarved apron and flanged splat, with arms continuing into the 'goose-neck' side posts, also illustrated by Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, ibid., p. 60, no. 28, also sold 19 September 1996, lot 41. A pair of horseshoeback armchairs with plain splat and shaped apron was sold Christie's, New York, 20 March 2000, lot 10.
See, also, the pair of armchairs with outward-projecting arms illustrated by S. Keppel, The Well-Furnished Tomb, Part 1, JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 17, fig. 11; and by C. Evarts, The Classic of Lu Ban and Classical Chinese Furniture, JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 36.
Examples of this popular style in huanghuali include a similar pair with a carved ruyi-head panel on the flanged splat illustrated by Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, sold Christie's, New York, 19 September 1996, lot 99, as well as a set of armchairs with uncarved apron and flanged splat, with arms continuing into the 'goose-neck' side posts, also illustrated by Wang Shixiang and C. Evarts, ibid., p. 60, no. 28, also sold 19 September 1996, lot 41. A pair of horseshoeback armchairs with plain splat and shaped apron was sold Christie's, New York, 20 March 2000, lot 10.
See, also, the pair of armchairs with outward-projecting arms illustrated by S. Keppel, The Well-Furnished Tomb, Part 1, JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 17, fig. 11; and by C. Evarts, The Classic of Lu Ban and Classical Chinese Furniture, JCCFS, Winter 1993, p. 36.