Page 218 - Bonhams, The H Collection, Classical Chinese Furniture, May 13, 2021 London
P. 218

This unusual set of chairs shares the same general construction as the   Unlike the more traditional nanguanmaoyi seats, the present chairs
           ‘Southern official’s hat’ armchairs. However, they display a number of   have no side rail. In addition, the back splat has a gentle S-curve and
           important variations which were probably made to accommodate the   is formed from three sections: the top decorated with a reticulated
           aesthetic preference of the patron commissioning them.   panel decorated with chilong and blossoming flowers and tendrils; the
                                                             middle section inlaid with a burlwood panel; the lower section with an
           The ‘continuous yokeback’ armchair is considered one of the most   arched apron. Finally, the open stretchers below the seats are round
           classic forms originating in the Ming dynasty. The enduring popularity   and connected to the seat frame by pillar-shaped struts, lightening the
           of the form, probably a result of the elegant lines and balanced   appearance of these seats.
           proportions, ensured its production in varying forms through the late
           Ming and most of the Qing dynasty. The crestrail of this type of seat   Compare the shape of the present chairs with a related huanghuali
           continues only down to the back posts as opposed to extending   ‘Southern official’s hat’ armchair, mid 17th/early 18th century,
           beyond them, like in the ‘officials’ hat’ version.    displaying similar stretchers and three-part backsplat inlaid with a
                                                             central burlwood panel, illustrated by Chu-Pak Lau, Classical Chinese
           The ‘Southern official’s hat’ seat, typically characterised by continuous   Huanghuali Furniture from the Haven Collection, Hong Kong, 2016,
           back and arm rails, was first developed during the Ming dynasty. It   p.98, no.17. The design may have been inspired by a 16th/17th
           was probably inspired by bamboo chair construction, where different   century prototype depicted in a woodblock illustration of ‘Journey to
           stalks of bamboo were bent and bound together with natural fibres;   the West’ Xiyouji, a Ming dynasty novel, ibid., p.98. Also compare the
           see R.D.Jacobsen and N.Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the   reticulated floral designs with those decorating a huanghuali ‘low-back’
           Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pl.9.    armchair, Ming or Qing dynasty, illustrated by S.Handler, The Austere
                                                             Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Los Angeles and London,
                                                             2001, p.80, fig.6.10.






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