Page 294 - September 23 to 24 Important Chinese Art Christie's NYC

(another view)

The form is a variation on the more commonly seen horseshoe-back by a lone tree – and the panel on the right is wild and untamed, recalling a
armchair, but in this example, the arms continue into the seat to form one turbulent sea or a powerful storm. Together, these panels add an elegance
seamless curving line. The design was inspired by the humble bamboo and power to these already commanding pair of chairs.
chair and the construction technique of bending lengths of bamboo using
steam and heat. The abundance of bamboo made it popular among the A pair, originally from a set of four, of huanghuali continuous horseshoe-
lower classes, as a cost-effective and more easily portable alternative to the back armchairs with serpentine aprons, formerly in the Robert H. Ellsworth
more luxurious huanghuali. This rare pair would have been commissioned by Collection, was sold at Christie’s New York: The Collection of Robert Hatfield
a wealthy family, attracted to the humble origins of bamboo furniture, but Ellsworth Part I: Masterworks: Including Indian, Himalayan and Southeast
seeking the luxury and status associated with precious huanghuali. Asian Works of Art, Chinese and Japanese Works of Art, 17 March 2015,
lot 47. A single chair of this form, with straight aprons and curved corner
Only a handful of examples dating to the seventeenth century are known, but spandrels, formerly in the Flacks Family collection, was sold at Christie’s New
there are no examples with these haunting Dali marble panels on the back York: The Flacks Family Collection: A Very Personal Selection, 16 September
splats. Chosen for their natural markings and carefully polished to reveal 2016, lot 1105. A pair of this form is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art,
evocative and poetic scenes, the panels instantly transport the viewer to accession number: 1971-12-1 and illustrated by J. G. Lee, "Chinese Furniture
that contemplative place in nature that only the best panels can convey. The Collection," The Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. LVIII:276 (Winter
panel on the left is a tranquil landscape scene – a foggy morning punctuated 1963), p. 63, fig. 7.

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