Page 34 - Christies Fine Chinese Works of Art March 2016 New York

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A RARE PAIR OF HUANGHUALI ‘FOUR-CORNERS EXPOSED OFFICIAL’S HAT’
ARMCHAIRS, SICHUTOUGUANMAOYI
17TH CENTURY

Each chair has a sweeping curved, protruding crest rail supported on an S-shaped back splat
and elegantly curved rear posts. The curved arm rails are supported on tapering stiles and
extend beyond the curved front posts. The mat seat is set in a wide rectangular frame fnely
carved with a molded edge above plain, beaded aprons. The legs of square section have a fnely
molded edge and are joined by square-section humpback stretchers and vertical struts, above a
foot rest and stepped stretchers on the sides, above plain aprons.

47 in. (119.4 cm.) high, 25 in. (63.5 cm.) wide, 19º in. (48.9 cm.) deep (2)

$700,000-900,000

PROVENANCE

The Collection of Philip W. Manhard (1922-1998), McLean, Virginia.
Eskenazi Ltd., London.

The present pair of chairs displays an unparalleled grace and fnesse seen only in the fnest furniture
dating to the Ming dynasty. Of the four categories of chair, the ‘four corners-exposed’ armchair is one of
the earliest classic forms found in huanghuali furniture design. The present pair of chairs is distinguished
by the elegant lines and fne quality of the huanghuali.

The deeply curved crest rails with rounded ends are beautifully carved and dramatically contrast
the box-like construction of the lower section. The thick curved members would have resulted in a
signifcant amount of wastage, and suggests the considerable importance of the gentleman who
commissioned the chairs. The most comparable published example, of similar proportion, is a single
chair in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
Museum - Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 26. Like the present pair,
the Palace Museum example exhibits the same deeply curved crest rail, square-section legs, and box-like
construction below the seat.
明末清初 黃花梨四出頭官帽椅一對

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