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.
216 | BONHAMS