Page 82 - Bonhams, The H Collection, Classical Chinese Furniture, May 13, 2021 London

16 TP Y
A RARE PAIR OF LARGE HUANGHUALI SQUARE STOOLS,
FANGDENG
17th/18th century
Each with a square frame enclosing a hard-mat seat with double
reeded aprons wrapping completely around the exterior of the piece to
simulate bamboo, the wrap-around stretchers joined to the apron by
two pairs of interlocked-ring struts on each side, all supported on four
legs of circular section.
62.9cm (24 6/8in) square x 48.3cm (19in) high. (2).

£50,000 - 80,000
CNY450,000 - 720,000

十七/十八世紀 黃花梨直足裹腿方凳成對

Provenance:
An American family collection, acquired in Beijing before 1945
Sotheby’s New York, 15 September 2015, lot 168
An important European private collection

來源：
美國家族私人舊藏，1945年前購於北京
紐約蘇富比，2015年9月15日，拍品編號168
歐洲重要私人收藏

Distinguished by their simple elegance and the refined geometry of their
design, complemented with interlocking circular braces, the present
stools are a rare and remarkable example of their particular type.

Corner-leg stools were highly popular during the Ming dynasty. They
were stable and durable due to their apron and waist carved from a
single piece of wood. The form of the present pair of stools suited
them well to a variety of settings, due to their simple yet sturdy shape,
and examples exist with both soft and hard-mat seats, with and
without stretchers, and with and without carved surface decoration.

Stools have a long history in China, with the earliest examples depicted
on a ritual vessel of the Eastern Zhou period (770-221 BC). In later
times, stools were variously used as seats for Buddhist deities and
high-ranking members of society. Their relatively small size made these
seats perfectly adaptable to being moved from indoors to outdoors,
where they often served as both seats and small tables during
scholarly gatherings. For a discussion about the evolution of stools
in China, see S.Handler, The Austere Luminosity of Classical Chinese
Furniture, Berkeley and London, 2001, pp.82-102.

The combination of interlocking-ring braces decorating the present
stools may have been inspired by earlier furniture designs. An altar table
excavated from an underground chamber of a pagoda in Yuegezhuang,
Fangshan, dating to circa 1110 AD, displays a similar combination of
vertical struts and interlocking braces to the present stools; see Wang
Shixiang, ‘Development of Furniture Design and Construction from
the Song to the Ming’, in Chinese Furniture. Selected Articles from
Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, pp.42-55.

A pair of similar stools, early Qing dynasty, is illustrated by Wang
Shixang in Classic Chinese Furniture; Ming and Early Qing Dynasties,
London, 1986, vol.2, p.21, no.A11.

Compare with a pair of huanghuali stools of similar shape, 17th/18th
century, illustrated by R.H.Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, New York,
1970, pl.114. A related pair of huanghuali stools, 18th century, was
sold at Sotheby’s New York, 23 March 2011, lot 676.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
80 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.