Page 110 - Fine Chinese Art Bonhams London May 2018

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
女士藏品

84 Y
A RARE HUANGHUALI HORSESHOE BACK ARMCHAIR,
QUANYI
16th/17th century
The elegantly curving crestrail set on two straight back posts and
S-shaped front and side posts, a shaped spandrel beneath each out-
scrolled and rounded terminal, with a curved rectangular back splat,
the posts of circular section continuing through the mat seat frame
forming the legs of square section secured by hump-back aprons and
four stretchers, the wood of a warm honey-brown tone.
94.5cm (37 1/4in) high x 60cm (23 5/8in) wide x 55cm (21 5/8in) deep.

£20,000 - 30,000
CNY180,000 - 270,000

十六/十七世紀 黃花梨圈椅

Provenance: a distinguished English private collection, according to
the owner acquired in Asia in 1992

來源： 顯貴英國私人收藏，據傳於1992年購自亞洲

The present lot forms part of a distinguished collection of classical
Chinese furniture devotedly collected and lived with over the past three
decades. The owner had the privilege of learning from the pre-eminent
scholar of classical Chinese furniture, Wang Shixiang, as well as from
the well-known dealer in classical Chinese furniture, Grace Wu Bruce.

Unusually, this plain horseshoe-back armchair with fluid curves and
simple lines has humpback-shaped stretchers as well as supports which
change from round to square section, as they continue through the seat
frame to become the back legs. These rare features distinguish it from
other types of huanghuali horseshoe back armchairs, such as the one
in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by C.Clunas,
Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p.25.

Compare a related pair of huanghuali chairs, late 16th/ early 17th
century, with humpback-shaped stretchers and stiles that change from
circular to square section, illustrated by Grace Wu Bruce, Dreams of
Chu Tan Chamber and Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr S.Y. Yip
Collection of Classical Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, p.28, no.4.
Grace Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and The subtle form using round members on the top section transforming
Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr S.Y. Yip Collection to square members on the lower section though rare found on chairs,
of Classical Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, p.28, no.4; symbolising the cosmology of the round heavenly realm and the square
image courtesy of Grace Wu Bruce earthly domain (tianyuan difang); see this feature on a pair of huanghuali
low-back ‘Southern Official’s’ armchairs, 17th century, illustrated in
Splendor of Style: Classical Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties,
National Museum of History, Taipei, 1999, p.85.

A related pair of huanghuali horseshoe back armchairs, late Ming
dynasty, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 117.

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