Page 68 - March 22 2022 Bonhams

PROPERTY FROM THE RICHARD MILHENDER COLLECTION
147 Y
AN EARLY CHINESE HUANGHUALI ‘VASE SPLAT’ CHAIR
Circa 1730 Christie Brown, Forbes Magazine, 1991 年十一月 11 日，第 377
Modelled in the George II style with shaped stiles and central vase- 頁，攝於此藏家的波士頓居所，與本次拍賣的拍品第 154 號的關作
shaped splat with a shell cresting above with pendant acanthus, the 霖畫派傑弗遜畫像一同入鏡
wood a rich tone and with attractive darker markings, an upholstered
seat set above cabriole legs with carved shell motifs to the knees 展出記錄：
above further pendant acanthus and deeply carved claw and ball feet 麻州塞勒姆，皮博迪博物館《中國外銷藝術：私人收藏精粹》
with four talons. ，1986-1988
42 1/2in (108cm) high; 21 1/2in (54.6cm) across; 21 1/2in (54.6cm) 麻州林肯 De Cordova 博物館，1979 年 6 月 22 日至 9 月 16 日
deep
Carl L. Crossman, op. cit, ‘China Trade Furniture’, p. 337, notes that
$20,000 - 30,000 this chair whilst based on an English example and probably made for
the English market, has elaborately joinery characteristic of Chinese
十八世紀 黃花梨瓶形背獸足椅 craftsmanship.

Provenance In Kee Il Choi’s important reference work, The China Trade: Romance
Sotheby’s London, 11 May 1979, lot 55 and Reality, an exhibition organized by the De Cordova Museum,
The Richard Milhender Collection, Boston, Massachusetts, Lincoln, Massachusetts in collaboration with The Museum of the
1979-present American China Trade, Milton, Massachusetts, this chair is illustrated
alongside an informative footnote and a diagram of the joint between
Published the back uprights and the seat which are joined by an inter-locking
Kee Il Choi Jr., Guest Curator, The China Trade: Romance and pegged splice joint reinforced with iron ties. The inner front corners
Reality, De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, 1979, p. 21 are lined with curved wooden braces and the inner corners are
Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade: Paintings, secured with angle blocks. The construction of this elaborate joint,
Furnishings and Exotic Curiosities, Antique Collector’s Club, Suffolk, importantly, is a typically Chinese one.
UK, 1991, p. 231, Color Plate 84
The Magazine Antiques, February 1992, in an article by Carl L. In Gustave Ecke’s groundbreaking publication, Chinese Domestic
Crossman, ‘China Trade Furniture’, pp. 336-337, Pl. IX Furniture, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, 1962, the author termed this
Christie Brown, Forbes Magazine, 11 November 1991, p. 377, in situ a ‘cogged scarf joint’, p. 154, figs. 22a and 22b. Robert Ellsworth
in the Boston home of the present owner below the Spoilum (Guan identified it more precisely as a ‘double tongue-and-groove, half-
Zuolin) School painting of Thomas Jefferson, also offered in this sale, lapped, pressure pegged joint’.
lot 154
Interestingly, a chair identical to ours is illustrated by Christopher
Exhibited Gilbert, Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall,
Peabody Museum, Salem Massachusetts (now the Peabody Essex London, 1978, pp.491-492, cat. no. 647, is constructed utilizing the
Museum), Chinese Export Art: Highlights of a Private Collection, same Chinese joinery methods and may have once formed part of a
1986-1988 larger set.
De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts, June 22 – September
16, 1979 For other extremely rare examples of similar type made in China for
export to England (primarily) and displaying a rare hybrid of English
出處： design and Chinese construction from locally sourced timber and
倫敦蘇富比，1979 年五月 11 日，拍品第 55 號 taking several stylistic cues from domestic Chinese furniture, see
麻州波士頓 Richard Milhender 藏，1979 年至今 Bonhams, London, 20 November 2013, lot 47 for a George II
‘Anglo-Chinese’ huanghuali armchair with vase splat with acanthus
出版記錄： decoration; and lot 48 for a pair of huanghuali side chairs; and
Sotheby’s, New York, 18 January 1996, lot 242, for a pair of Queen
Kee Il Choi Jr., 特邀策展人，《中國貿易：羅曼史與現實》，麻州林 Anne style padouk wood side chairs.
肯 De Cordova 博物館，1979 年，第 21 頁
Carl L. Crossman, 《中國貿易與裝飾藝術：繪畫、傢俱、異國珍奇》 See also Sotheby’s, London, ‘Arts of Europe’, 12 May 2015, lot
，骨董藏家俱樂部，英國薩福克郡，1991 年，第 231 頁，彩版 84 117 for a related pair of English George II chairs, in the manner of
The Magazine Antiques 雜志，1992 年二月，Carl L. Crossman 文 the 18th century cabinet maker Giles Grendey, with similar shell
《中國外銷傢俱》第 336-337 頁，圖 IX decoration at the top center of the backs and to the knees.

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