Page 128 - 2019 September 13th Christie's New York Important Chinese Works of Art

The Most Honored Seat
The folding horseshoe-back armchair was used by the Imperial family and wealthy and powerful
individuals as a symbol of status and rank. The “frst folding chair” (di yi ba jiaoyi) is a well-known Chinese
saying and conveys the importance of this type of chair, as the most honored seat in a public room. A
woodblock print published in the Ming-dynasty carpenter’s manual, Lu Ban Jing, shows an oficial seated
on a folding horseshoe-back chair at the front of the room, with a side chair and a ‘Southern Oficial’s Hat’
armchair (nanguanmaoyi) arranged to his right and left, respectively. These vacant seats were intended
for men of lesser rank and so distinguished the host. So important as status symbols were these chairs in
the Ming period, that the most commonly found pottery furniture model was the folding horseshoe-back
armchair, conferring in the afterlife a status to the deceased perhaps unachievable while alive. Ming-
dynasty pottery models of folding chairs are easily recognizable by the exaggerated and unusually large
metalwork where the legs cross, underscoring its sophisticated mechanics.

位高權重

交椅是權力與階級的象徵，屬皇親貴胄及達官 交椅材質多樣，有黃花梨製，也有漆製（圖二），
富人專用。古人有「第一把交椅」之說，可見交 因易於攜帶，亦作皇帝、皇后出巡御用寶座。明
椅地位首屈一指。明代《魯班經》有一木刻版 清宮廷繪畫時常可見皇帝與皇后坐於交椅之 (above)
畫，描繪一文官坐於廳堂正前一把圓後背交椅 上。巴黎吉美博物館藏清代畫家郎世寧（1688- Fig. 2 A lacquered-wood
之上，其兩側置燈掛椅及南官帽椅。 1766）作《哈薩克貢馬圖》，畫中乾隆皇帝坐於 folding armchair with gilt
dragon-head terminals,
飾有捲草紋之圓後背交椅，足垂腳踏，朝中官員 Qing dynasty (1644-1911).
The Palace Museum
陶製圓後背交椅為明代墓葬家具最常見之品 隨侍在側，背後立一碩大屏風。（圖三）此佈局 Collection, Beijing. The
Palace Museum/ Image
種，或正因其代表的崇高地位象徵可寄予往生 參照清宮正殿陳設─寶座、踏床、香爐、屏風、 © The Palace Museum,
Photographer Liu Zhigang
者美好祝願。參見中國古典家具博物館藏一例， 宮扇排列莊嚴有序，充滿皇權氣派。郎世寧畫中 圖二 清 金漆雕龍紋交椅
其交叉椅腳飾有誇大的金屬構件，可知其為此 交椅即代表皇帝寶座。 北京故宮博物院
類交椅 。 圖片提供：北京故宮博物院
劉志崗攝
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