17TH-18TH CENTURY

The corner-leg stool is a standard form found in classic Chinese furniture. The present stools feature an elegant inward-curved leg, an attractive and appealing deviation from the standard design. A huanghuali rectangular waisted stool, of comparable size, and with curved legs, dated to late 16th-early 17th century, and formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, is illustrated in Wang et al, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, San Francisco and Chicago, 1995, p. 34, no. 16. A pair of huanghuali stools, of similar proportion, but with more elongated curved legs is illustrated by G. Wu Bruce in The Best of the Best: The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, vol.2, Hong Kong, 2017, p. 278-279. See, also, a third pair sold at Christie's London, 8 November 2016, lot 201.