Lot 419. A pair of huanghuali yokeback armchairs (sichutouguanmaoyi), 17th-18th century. Height 46 1/2 in., 118 cm; Width 32 3/8 in., 59.5 cm; Depth 18 in., 46 cm. Estimate 300,000 — 400,000 USD. Lot sold 293,000 USD. Courtesy Sotheby's 2014.

each with an arched crestrail joined to a wide S-curved rectangular splat, the stiles similarly curved, the elegantly outscrolled arms above a beaded and shaped spandrel, the hard-caned seat within a mitered double-molded frame above a shaped and beaded apron tongue and grooved into the circular section legs and butt joined into the underside of the seatframe, the legs joined by four typically ascending stretchers from front to back rail, the underside with a pair of transverse stretchers (2). 

Provenance: Ming Furniture, Ltd., New York.

Litterature: Sarah Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, 2004, pp. 114 and 115.

Note: High yokeback armchairs are among the most distinguished type of chair among classic Ming furniture. The prominent crest and extending top and arm rails have become synonymous with the flowing yet restrained beauty that defines the spare but opulent aesthetic of the Ming elite. This pair is distinguished by not only its slender lines and graceful proportions but the S-curved splats which are carved from a single piece of wood and reveal a wonderfully attractive matching grain. 

For a general discussion on the basic model and decorative vocabulary of these chairs, see Curtis Evarts, 'From Ornate to Unadorned', Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp. 24-33.