Page 66 - Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Christie's Hong Kong May 29, 2019

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF RONALD W. LONGSDORF
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A VERY RARE PAIR OF BLACK LACQUERED The present pair of armchairs feature design elements which
BAMBOO ARMCHAIRS were later incorporated into hardwood furniture design.
QING DYNASTY, 18TH- EARLY 19TH CENTURY The structure where the top rail and armrests continue to
become the rear posts and the front posts respectively,
Each with a straight splat divided into three sections, the and share the characteristics of a ‘southern official’s
uppermost pierced with a shaped opening, the central section armchair’, nanguanmaoyi. It has been suggested by Sarah
with traces of poetic inscriptions and the bottom section with a Handler, ‘that perhaps the continuous arms evolved from bent
circular opening, all below a top rail bent at two corners to form bamboo construction’ (see ‘A Yokeback Chair for Sitting Tall’,
the rear posts which continue to the rear legs. The straight arms are Journal of the Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp. 4-23),
supported on spindle-like braces and front posts which continue as illustrated by a drawing of a bamboo chair in the Ming
through the seat to form the front legs. The legs are encircled by dynasty woodblock prints sancai tuhui (fig. 1).
double layered stretchers at the sides and a foot rest at the front.
38 ¬ in. (98.2 cm.) high, 20 º in. (51.5 cm.) wide, 清十八 / 十九世紀 黑漆竹扶手椅一對
17 √ in. (45.5 cm.) deep (2)
HK$70,000-90,000 US$9,100-12,000 來源
約 1985 年於倫敦 Mallet 購入
PROVENANCE
Purchased from Mallet, London, circa 1985 著錄
Ronald W. Longsdorf，「Chinese Bamboo Furniture: Its History
LITERATURE and Influence on Hardwood Furniture Design - January 1994」，
Ronald W. Longsdorf, ‘Chinese Bamboo Furniture: Its History
and Influence on Hardwood Furniture Design - January 1994’, 載《Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-
Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-2003, Hong 2003》，香港，2004 年，頁 189，圖 11
Kong, 2004, p.189, fig.11
此對椅子為一堂四張或以上之部分，另外一張定年為乾隆的扶
手椅著錄於 M. Beurdeley，《Chinese Furniture》，紐約，1979 年，
頁 49，圖版編號 66。竹扶手椅中的眾多結構元素影響了硬木扶
手椅的設計，如搭腦與後腿、扶手與前腿的一木連做，明代版
畫《三才圖會》中亦繪有一張早期竹椅（圖一）。

fig. 1
圖一

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