Page 340 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London
P. 340
*337 W The splendour and technical accomplishment of these ‘phoenix’
chairs strongly suggests an Imperial provenance. The rich red lacquer
A very rare pair of carved cinnabar lacquer is intricately and densely carved in a complex and subtle design to
‘phoenix’ chairs display the highest technical ability, emphasising the high status of
18th century any person sitting on such chairs.
Each formed with a circular seat supported on four straight legs Compare a pair of chairs of identical shape and style of carving but
ending in scroll terminals and joined by carved waisted aprons, decorated with five-clawed dragons rather than phoenix, and incised
the seats surmounted by a splat flanked by two vertical struts and and gilded with a six-character Qianlong mark, sold at Christie’s
joined to the two arm-rests, all the surfaces covered with deep layers Hong Kong, Masterworks of Chinese Art, 5 and 6 November 1997,
of red lacquer ornately carved with richly detailed phoenix amidst lot 923. It is interesting to note the close connection between the
a wealth of blossoming flowers including peony, aster, prunus, dragon representing the Emperor and the phoenix representing the
chrysanthemum and lotus, the front and back of each splat with a Empress which, combined with the identical design of these pairs of
single phoenix perching proudly on rockwork with wings outspread. chairs, would suggest that the four chairs may have formed part of a
Each 57.5cm wide x 87.5cm high (22¾in wide x 34½in high) (2). suite of furniture intended for use in the Imperial quarters.
£200,000 - 300,000
HK$2,500,000 - 3,700,000 CNY2,000,000 - 2,900,000
十八世紀 剔紅鳳凰穿花紋扶手圓椅一對
336 | Bonhams
