Page 151 - 2018 Hong Kong Important Chieese Art

Huanghuali yokeback armchairs of this type embody a These arms are mortised and tenoned into the stile and pipe-
timelessness in their striking linearity and harmony of form, joined to the posts, supported by tapering S-shaped braces of
and were associated with status and authority of the elite circular section. Mitred, mortised and tenoned, the seat frame
gentry in Chinese society. Known as guanmaoyi, or ‘official has exposed tenons on the short rails and two transverse
hat-shaped chairs’, due to their resemblance to the winged hat braces underneath, while its edge moulds down and in to end
of Ming officials, they were further categorised into two types: in a narrow flat bend. Below the seat is a plain straight apron
those with protruding crest rails, sichutou guanmaoyi, and butt-joined to the underside of the seat. The legs are joined by
those without, nan guanmaoyi. The elegance of these chairs a shaped footrail in front, rectangular side stretchers, and an
lies in the vertical lines which extend outwards slightly as they oval one in the back, all with exposed tenons.
rise from the seat to lighten the overall effect.
Craig Clunas in Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 20,
The present pair of chairs combines an extending top rail with describes yokeback armchairs as being made in pairs,
continuous arms, of which surviving examples are relatively suggesting Chinese room arrangements aimed for symmetry.
rare; a closely related chair, attributed to the 17th century, is He further notes that Ming and Qing period literature
illustrated in Karen Mazurkewich, Chinese Furniture. A Guide illustrations characteristically show them used at dinner tables,
to Collecting Antiques, Rutland, 2006, pl. 84; and a pair, but in reception halls for guests and at the writing table in the
with shorter backs and attributed to the 17th/18th century, scholar’s studio, and illustrates a woodblock print of the 1616
from the Robert H. Ellsworth collection, was sold at Christie’s edition of The Golden Lotus (Jing Ping Mei), p. 22, fig. 8. This
New York, 18th March 2015, lot 106. The type is captured as scene shows the main male figure and his principal wife seated
a design of the Ming period, as depicted in wood block prints on guanmaoyi while dining with his secondary wives and
of the period; see an illustration to the drama written by Xu concubines who are seated on stools. For a general discussion
Fuzuo, Story of the Red Pear, illustrated in the catalogue to the on the basic model and decorative vocabulary of these
exhibition Chinese Furniture. Wenfang Works of Art, Grace Wu armchairs see Curtis Evarts, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned’,
Bruce, The International Asian Art Fair, New York, 2003, cat. Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993,
no. 3 (fig. 1). pp. 24-33.
The remarkable level of carpentry is evident in the skilful Huanghuali armchairs of this type, but with arms that extend
construction of these chairs: the two plain S-shape back splats over the posts, can be found in a number of museum and
are carved from the same piece of wood and tongue-and- private collections; a closely related example, but with a wood
grooved into the underside of the top rail and tenoned to the seat, from the collection of Chen Mengjia, is illustrated in Wang
back member of the seat frame. The stiles are tenoned into Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 45;
the top rail and pass through the seat to become the back and another is included in George N. Kates, Chinese Household
legs, while the elongated S-shape arms form the front legs. Furniture, New York, 1948, pl. 79.

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