Lot 829. A very rare set of four Dali marble-inset huanghuali side chairs, 17th-18th century; 91.4 cm high, 52.7 cm wide, 38.7 cm deep. Price realised USD 441,000 (Estimate USD 350,000 – USD 550,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Private collection, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2003.
Acquired in 2009, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Note: Each chair is fitted with an evocative Dali marble panel set within the tripartite splat and supporting a finely carved stepped crestrail. The painterly quality of the figured marbled panels as embellishment to furniture was praised as the height of sophisticated taste among the literati and elite. Chosen for their natural markings and carefully polished to reveal a dreamy landscape, the panels instantly transport the viewer to that contemplative place in nature that only the finest panels can convey. Together, these four panels capture the majestic mountainous landscapes of China.

Ming-dynasty prints frequently depict side chairs used in a variety of settings, including in private rooms, landscaped gardens, and in formal reception spaces. Easily transportable and less formal than armchairs, side chairs would have been made in sets and placed against the wall. To find a true set of four chairs is very rare. Fine chairs were prized for their beauty and their materials, thus complete sets are rarely preserved. It was common for sets of four, or eight chairs, to be divided into singles or pairs. Only a few prominent sets are known, most notably the exquisite set of four huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2015, lot 41, which realized a record-breaking price of $9,685,000.

Lot 824. A rare huanghuali travelling bookcase, 17th-18th century; 72 cm high, 56.6 cm wide, 32 cm deep. Price realised USD 88,200 (Estimate USD 60,000 – USD 80,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Acquired in 2009, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Note: The interior of a traveling cabinet can be fitted with either shelves, for the carrying of books or scrolls, or set with drawers and compartments. The present traveling case is the latter, opening to reveal a niche for a devotional figure and various narrow drawers. These cases ensured that the scholar-official or merchant had all the necessary accoutrement for his life on the road.

To facilitate transport and to protect the traveling case from moisture or insects, the cabinet was raised on a fitted base and fitted with an upright frame and would have been carried at either end of a long carrying pole or shaped handles. The stress placed on the frame required a particularly strong construction, reinforced with inlaid hardware.

A slightly larger huanghuali traveling bookcase (58 cm. high) illustrated with the doors open to reveal the interior fitted with multiple drawers, is published by G. Ecke, Domestic Chinese Furniture, Rutland and Tokyo, 1962, p. 135, fig. 107. A huanghauli traveling scholar's bookcase fitted with a rare, undulating carrying handle, formerly in the Mingjishantang Collection, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 November 2023, lot 2912.

Lot 826. A very rare huanghuali square demountable-style corner-leg table, 18th century; 86.3 cm high, 97.2 cm wide, 94 cm deep. Price realised USD 88,200 (Estimate USD 80,000 – USD 120,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987) Collections, New York.
Acquired from the above in 2000.

Note: The present table is based on a form which has detachable legs to allow it to be used both as a kang table and a standard-height table. Tables of this type were made to be easily disassembled to facilitate transport. However, there are several known examples with fixed legs, in which the legs have been carved to imitate their detachable counterparts. This fascination with artifice was in fashion during the eighteenth century and can be seen in exquisite examples found in the decorative arts.

A square huanghuali, fixed-leg table carved with vase-form feet and dating to the late Ming dynasty is illustrated by N. Berliner et al., Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture from the 16th and 17th Centuries, Boston, 1996, no. 22, and another square example is illustrated by C. Clunas, Chinese Furniture, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1988, p. 59, pl. 47. A rectangular huanghuali fixed-leg table was sold in The Lai Family Collection of Fine Chinese Furniture and Works of Art; Christie’s New York, 17 September 2015, lot 923.

Lot 827. A rare huanghuali rectangular corner-leg table, 17th-18th century; 78.5 cm high, 87 cm wide, 36 cm deep. Price realised USD 63,000 (Estimate USD 80,000 – USD 120,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Private American collection by 2005.

Note: With its gently splayed and molded legs and graceful proportions, the present huanghuali table exemplifies the refined elegance of furniture dated to the 17th and 18th century. The elegant lines and designs nicely contrast the beaded, elongated spandrels, which are pierced with a ruyi. Its diminutive proportions and more decorative carved features suggest it may have been used for display rather than for utilitarian purposes. Ming-dynasty woodblock prints show side tables used in interior spaces holding flowers or antiques.

A huanghuali trestle-leg table with similarly molded legs and pierced spandrels was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1663.

Lot 830. A huanghuali folding chair, 18th-19th century; 105.4 cm high, 73.7 cm wide, 69.9 cm deep. Price realised USD 40,320 (Estimate USD 40,000 – USD 60,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Thomas Morrow Collection, Pennsylvania, acquired in 2013.

Note: The folding horseshoe-back armchair was used by the imperial family and other wealthy and powerful individuals and functioned as a symbol of status and rank. A tielimu folding chair carved with the same scene of deer amidst rockwork beneath a double gourd was sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2023, lot 1172.

Lot 846. Two burl-inset Hongmu throne chairs, late Qing dynasty; 90.2 cm high, 111.2 cm wide, 59.7 cm deep. Price realised USD 25,200 (Estimate USD 20,000 – USD 30,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2024

Provenance: Aileen Chiang Pei (1912-2016) Collection, New York, by the 1950s.

Note: The two burl-inset hongmu throne chairs are a near pair, distinguished by the carved confronting chilong and plain back on one and carved archaistic scrollwork and shaped panels on the second chair. A small zitan throne chair of related design and size was sold at Christie's New York, 1 February 2024, lot 14.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 19–20 September 2024