Lot 8111. An exceptionally rare huanghuali lowback armchair,meiguiyi, Late Ming-Early Qing dynasty; 20 3/4 in. (52.7cm.) wide, 16 3/8 in. (41.5 cm.) deep, 31 1/4 in. (79.4 cm.) high. Estimate HKD 800,000 - HKD 1,200,000. Price realised HKD 1,000,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2017

The chair with a square-section top rail supported on posts of conforming shape extending to the back legs bracing series of vertical and horizontal square-section spindles forming three layers of lattice with a circular cartouche, flanking with rectangular frame of arms decorated with crossed spindles and circular cartouche, above a soft mat seat set with plain aprons and spandrels. The chair is supported on legs of square section joined by stepped stretchers and the footrest above a plain apron.

Provenance: Acquired in Hong Kong in the 1990s.

Note: The unparalleled design of the frame at the back and the armrests is inspired by the lattice panels decorating the alluring gardens of Southern China, illustrated in the earliest publication of Chinese garden designs and constructions, Yuanye, by the Ming Dynasty garden architect Ji Cheng (1582-1642). As with the preceding lot 8109, the present chair also originated from the Suzhou region. A chair made in bamboo with similar design of circular cartouche decorations in the chair frame, is illustrated in a hanging scroll by Dai Jin (1388–1462), A Nocturnal Outing of the Demon Queller Zhong Kui, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing (fig. 1).

Dai Jin (1388–1462), A Nocturnal Outing of the Demon Queller Zhong Kui, detail, Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.