Lot 30. A huanghuali horseshoe-backed chair, quanyi, 17th-early 18th century; 100 by 61 by 47cm., 39 3/8  by 24 by 18 1/2 in. Estimate 60,000 — 80,000 GBP. Lot sold 75,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

the rounded crestrail comprising five sections, supported by straight back posts and curved front and side posts, the gently curving central backsplat carved in relief with stylised confronting chilong enclosed within a ruyi-shaped medallion flanked by cusped flanges, the seat frame securing a soft cane matting and set above a beaded cusped apron, joined by foot stretchers of ascending heights.

Property from an Italian Private Collection.

Note: Ingeniously constructed with a continuous crest rail that elegantly curves to form the arm rests and the front legs, this chair is one of the rarest types of horseshoe-back chairs. This design derives from bamboo chair construction, when pliable lengths of bamboo were bent into a U-shape and bound together by natural fibres. It was later adopted by hardwood carpenters, who developed a sophisticated joinery technique that involved the use of slightly curved interlocking elements that were connected together to form a single continuous line. The finely finished rounded surfaces of the chair highlight the attractive grain patterns of the huanghuali and its vibrant colouring.

Hardwood chairs of this type, known as quanyi, were very popular during the Ming dynasty, when they were used both as seats of honour in wealthy households and as sedan chairs. A model of a horseshoe-back chair used as a sedan chair, excavated from the Ming dynasty tomb of Pan Yuncheng (d. 1589), an official of the Sixth Category, and now in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, is illustrated in Shen Zhiyu, The Shanghai Museum of Art, New York, 1983, pl. 21.

A continuous horseshoe-back chair, similarly carved on the splat with chilong, from the collection of John Gruber, is illustrated in Sarah Handler, ‘Outstanding Pieces in Private Rooms. Chinese Classical Furniture in New American Collections’, Chinese Furniture. Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 169, pl. 7; a pair were sold in our New York rooms, 26th November 1991, lot 458; another pair was sold at Christie’s New York, 1st December 1982, lot 314; and a further example but fashioned with a humpback stretcher and vertical struts, from the collection of Robert A. Piccus, is illustrated in Karen Mazurkewich, Chinese Furniture. A Guide to Collecting Antiques, Rutland, 2006, pl. 121. Chairs of this type are also found undecorated on the splat, such as one from the collection of Mrs Charles M. Cooke and now in the Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, included in the Museum’s exhibition Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu, 1982, cat. no. 59; a pair published in Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture. One Hundred and Three Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, pl. 14; and another pair sold at Christie’s New York, 2nd December 1986, lot 392.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art, London, 11 november 2015