Page 308 - Fine Chinese Art Christies London May 2018

PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED ASIAN GENTLEMAN The ‘Southern oicial’s’ hat armchair is one of the most popular forms in
Chinese furniture. It diers from the oicial’s hat armchair in that its crest rail
n*311
continues into the back rails as opposed to extending beyond them. The style
A RARE HUANGHUALI ‘SOUTHERN OFFICIALS HAT’ ARMCHAIR, of the present example is therefore also known as a continuous yokeback
NANGUANMAOYI armchair. For a comprehensive view of the evolution of the yokeback chair,
MING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY
see Sarah Handler, ‘A Yokeback Chair for Sitting Tall,’ Journal of the Chinese
The shaped crestrail is supported on a curved backsplat finely carved with a Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp. 4-23, where the author sheds
ruyi medallion and curved rear posts which continue through the seat to form light on the development of the yokeback chair as one of the earliest chair
the rear legs. The outcurved arms are supported by tapering stiles and curved types in China. The first known depiction of the yokeback chair is from a cave
front posts continuing through the seat to form the front legs. The rectangular
seat encloses a mat seat above a shaped, beaded apron carved with foliate painting in Dunhuang, dated 538. From that early period in Chinese history,
scroll. The legs are joined by stepped stretchers at the side and a footrest the yokeback chair developed into one of the most popular and successful
at front. forms of furniture.
40¡ in. (112.6 cm.) high, 23æ in. (62.8 cm.) wide, 19æ in. (50.2 cm.) deep
The present chair appears to be the matching pair to the continuous
£20,000-30,000 $29,000-42,000 yokeback armchair illustrated by Sarah Handler in Ming Furniture in the Light
€23,000-34,000
of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, California, 2004, p. 118.
PROVENANCE
With Ming Furniture Ltd., New York, 2008. 明十七世紀 黃花梨如意紋南官帽椅
From the collection of a distinguished Asian gentleman.
來源: 亞洲重要私人珍藏; 於2008年購自紐約古董商Ming
Furniture Ltd.
END OF SALE

306 Other fees apply in addition to the hammer price – see Section D of our Conditions of Sale at the back of this Catalogue