Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art, 7 November 2017, London
A rare pair of Huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs, Quanyi, 17th-18th century
Lot 146. A rare pair of Huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs, Quanyi, 17th-18th century. Estimate GBP 200,000 - GBP 400,000 (USD 260,800 - USD 521,600). © Christie's Images Ltd 2017
On each chair the sweeping crest rail terminates in outswept hooks above shaped spandrels, and forms an elegant curve above the S-shaped splat carved with a ruyi-head roundel enclosing confronted chilong dragons and flanked by shaped spandrels. The rear posts continue to form the back legs below the rectangular frame above shaped, beaded aprons and spandrels carved in the front with a stylised scroll. The legs are joined by stepped stretchers and a foot rest above a shaped apron. Each 26 ½ in. (67.3 cm.) wide, 19 ¼ in. (49 cm.) deep, 38 ¾ in. (98.5 cm.) high
Provenance: Property from a Distinguished Private Collection.
Note: For a discussion of this chair shape, see R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasty, New York, 1971, pp. 86-87, and Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 43-45.
Examples of this popular form in huanghuali include a pair with carved ruyiheads on the splats, illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts in Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, and later sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 1996, lot 99. A single huanghuali horseshoe-back armchair, carved in similar fashion, is illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 68-9, no. 14, where it is dated to the late Ming dynasty, ca. 1600-1650.