Lot 81 TP Y. A rare pair of huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs, quanshiyi, 17th century. Each 62cm (24 3/8in) wide x 49.5cm (19 1/4in) deep x 98cm (38 1/2in) high. Estimate £ 100,000 - 150,000 (€ 120,000 - 170,000). Sold for £ 471,062 (€ 537,773). © Bonhams 2001-2019

Each with a wide curving toprail continuing to the armrests with curled back ends, the back corner posts continuing to the back legs below the hard mat seat set within the rectangular frame above a waisted apron supported by shaped spandrels on the front and sides finely carved with writhing chilong and square-shaped legs terminating in hoof feet, the wood of a rich honey-brown tone with an attractive patina, possibly with later additions. 

Provenance: a British private collection, formed circa 1980s-1990s. 

Note: Compare with a related rare huanghuali and jichimu yokeback armchair, 17th century, formerly in the collection of Dr Isaac Newton of Edinburgh, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 23 April 1987, lot 590. The construction of the present lot is rare, however, it is not unknown for a chair to have a stool-type seat frame with legs terminating in hoof-feet. Wang Shixiang illustrates a chair probably composed of a stool and associated back in Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1986, pl.40. See also a related horseshoe-back armchair, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Ming Qing gongting jiaju daguan, vol.1, Beijing, 2006, p.94, pl.67.

Bonhams. Fine Chinese Art, London, 16 May 2019