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Lot Essay
The present pair of zitan and huamu armchairs falls into a group of mid-Qing Palace furniture, primarily carved from zitan, and all of related form. The most distinctive characteristics of this group are high, protruding crestrails surmounting the splat, rounded, stepped armrails, and the substantial use of thick members of zitan, with heavily carved, highly ornamental decoration.
Several armchairs of this type are published. See The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 47, no. 37, p. 63, no. 52, and p. 67, no. 56. For an example of how pairs of these chairs would be used, see a pair of elaborately carved, cloisonné enamel-inset zitan armchairs flanking a square corner-leg table in the Chu Xiu Gong (The Palace of Gathering Excellence), illustrated in Ming Qing Gong Jia Ju Da Guan, 2006, p. 677, no. 776.
Several armchairs of this type are published. See The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (II), Hong Kong, 2002, p. 47, no. 37, p. 63, no. 52, and p. 67, no. 56. For an example of how pairs of these chairs would be used, see a pair of elaborately carved, cloisonné enamel-inset zitan armchairs flanking a square corner-leg table in the Chu Xiu Gong (The Palace of Gathering Excellence), illustrated in Ming Qing Gong Jia Ju Da Guan, 2006, p. 677, no. 776.