Lot 465. A pair of huanghuali simulated bamboo armchairs (nanguanmaoyi), 17th-18th century. Height 42 in., 107 cm; Width 20 3/4  in., 52.7 cm; Depth 16 1/2  in., 42 cm. Estimate: 120,000 — 180,000 USD. Lot sold 197,000 USD. © Sotheby's

each with members simulating bamboo sections, the cylindrical crestrail, surmounting a rectangular bowed splat comprised of three sections, the upper carved with a ruyi medallion within a 'bamboo' frame, continuing to straight posts through the molded and tiered seat frame supported by narrow shaped and open brackets of bent 'bamboo', the cylindrical legs joined by stepped stretchers and a foot rest (2).

Note: Huanghuali armchairs in a bamboo design are very unusual and are represented in very few collections. A set of huanghuali horseshoeback armchairs (Quanyi) in simulated bamboo is in the collection of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City; other examples are represented in private collections. Tian Jiaqing, Classic Chinese Furniture of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1996, illustrates two examples of lowback armchairs, pl. 22 and 43. Perhaps the most frequently seen examples of chairs in this rare style are lowback armchairs, meiguiyi, but similar armchairs in a yokeback form are exceedingly rare.