17TH-18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE PAIR OF HUANGHUALI 'SOUTHERN OFFICIAL'S HAT' ARMCHAIRS, NANGUANMAOYI
17TH-18TH CENTURY
Each has a curved crestrail supported on curved rear posts and an S-shaped splat. The arm rails are supported on slender standing stiles that terminate in the front posts above the soft mat seat and cusped, beaded aprons and plain, beaded spandrels. The whole is supported on round-section legs, joined by a foot rest at the front and stepped stretchers.
45 in. (114.3 cm.) high, 23 ¼ in. (59 cm.) wide, 18 in. (45.7 cm.) deep

Provenance

Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, 1995.

Special notice

Lots made of or including (regardless of the percentage) endangered and other protected species of wildlife are marked with the symbol ~ in the catalogue. This material includes, among other things, ivory, tortoiseshell, crocodile skin, rhinoceros horn, whalebone certain species of coral, and Brazilian rosewood. You should check the relevant customs laws and regulations before bidding on any lot containing wildlife material if you plan to import the lot into another country. Several countries refuse to allow you to import property containing these materials, and some other countries require a licence from the relevant regulatory agencies in the countries of exportation as well as importation. In some cases, the lot can only be shipped with an independent scientific confirmation of species and/or age, and you will need to obtain these at your own cost.

Lot Essay

The 'southern official's hat' armchair is one of the most popular forms in Chinese furniture construction. They differ from the 'official's hat' armchair in that their crestrails continue into the back posts as opposed to extending beyond them. The continuous line of the crestrail joining into the rear upright posts is achieved with a rounded, right angle joint called a 'pipe-joint,' which is again used to join the curved arms to the front upright posts. A pair of huanghuali ‘southern official’s hat’ armchairs of similar proportions with shaped aprons and spandrels, dated to the early 17th century, is in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, illustrated by R. Jacobsen and N. Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pp. 52-53. Another pair of huanghuali ‘southern official’s hat’ armchairs, of similar proportions, and finely inlaid with nanmu roundels enclosing a curled chilong was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2012, lot 1735.

More from Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art

View All