A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI
VARIOUS PROPERTIES
A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI

17TH/18TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI
17TH/18TH CENTURY
On each chair the sweeping crest rail terminates in outswept hooks above shaped spandrels, and forms an elegant curve above the S-shaped splat carved with a ruyi-head roundel enclosing confronted chilong and flanked by shaped spandrels. The rear posts continue to form the back legs below the rectangular frame above shaped, beaded aprons and spandrels carved in the front with a stylized scroll, and plain beaded aprons and spandrels on the sides. The legs are joined by stepped stretchers and a foot rest above shaped aprons.
37½ in. (95.2 cm.) high, 26¾ in. (67.9 cm.) wide, 18 in. (45.7 cm.) deep (2)

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Lot Essay

For a discussion of this chair shape, see R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasty, New York, 1971, pp. 86-87, and Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 43-45.

Examples of this popular form in huanghuali include a pair with carved ruyi heads on the splats, illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts in Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, and later sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 1996, lot 99. A single huanghuali horseshoe-back armchair, carved in similar fashion, is illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 68-9, no. 14, where it is dated to the late Ming dynasty, ca. 1600-1650. See, also, the 17th century pair of huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs with carved splats sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1335.

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