Lot 136. A pair of 'huanghuali' yokeback armchairs (Sichutouguanmaoyi), 17th-18th century or later. Height 115 cm; Width 55.9 cm; Depth 52.7 cm, Lot sold 406,400 USD (Estimate 200,000 - 300,000 USD). © Sotheby's 2024

together with two rectangular Hongmu foot stools, Qing dynasty, 19th century (4)

Provenance: Collection of Evarts Greene (1897-1971) and Amy Brown (1881-1980) Loomis, acquired in China between 1930 and 1931, and thence by descent.

Note: The present pair of yokeback armchairs displays a particularly harmonious and stately interaction between the sturdy rectilinear frame and the long, sinuous posts and splat - the interplay of rounded and straight lines is enhanced by wide swathes of space, punctuating the elegant symmetry of the slender circular members. Called guanmaoyi or ‘official hat-shaped chairs’, the name derived from the resemblance of the undulating crest rail to the winged hat worn as formal attire by Ming officials, these armchairs are among the most iconic forms of classical Chinese furniture. Ming and Qing dynasty woodblock prints reveal that on special occasions, a colorful textile would have been draped over the crest rail (cleverly secured by the graceful, upturned ends) as illustrated in the Wanli (1573-1620) edition of Yangzheng Tujie / Illustrated Book of Education Legends, also included in Grace Wu, The Best of the Best. The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2017, p. 158.

Guanmaoyi were regarded as potent symbols of sophistication and high social standing. The notable height of the present example conveys not only the additional expense of material and skilled labor but the status of its owner and, by extension, the importance of any honored guests fortunate enough to be seated on them. The classical text Lu Ban jing (Manuscript of Lu Ban), a 15th century carpenter’s manual, gives specifications for these chairs and describes the joinery as the embodiment of the finest examples of classical Chinese furniture. The strikingly modern, seemingly simple design of the present pair uses only four upright posts, each passing through the rectangular seat frame, ingeniously joined, and fortified by a shaped apron featuring the only section of decorative carving and stretchers.

Craig Clunas in Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 20, describes armchairs of this type as being made in pairs, a nod to the use of symmetry in Chinese room arrangements. In addition to pairs prominently placed in reception halls, Ming and Qing period illustrations show them used at dining tables and alongside a writing table in scholar’s studios. A woodblock print in the 1616 edition of The Golden Lotus (Jin Ping Mei) included ibid., p. 22, fig. 8, affirms the function, location, and significance of yokeback armchairs, depicting a dining scene with the main character and his wife seated on guanmaoyi while the secondary wives and concubines are relegated to stools. For further discussion on the basic model and decorative vocabulary of these armchairs see Curtis Evarts, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned’, Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp 24-33.

Closely related huanghuali armchairs can be found in a number of museums and private collections; for example see a pair in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (accession nos 64-4/13A and 64-4/13B), one of them illustrated in Orientations: Special Issue for the Chinese Art Collection in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 39, November-December 2008, p. 63, fig. 12; a pair of similar armchairs with shaped aprons illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pl. 8, pp 50-51; and an armchair in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in The Palace Museum Collection. A Treasury of Ming and Qing Dynasty Palace Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2007, p. 30, fig. 13, where it is mentioned that the style of this yokeback armchair was especially popular in Northern China. Two further examples of varying details, in the Palace Museum, are illustrated ibid., figs 78-79, attributed to the Ming dynasty.

Two similar examples recently sold in our Hong Kong rooms; an armchair from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung, 8th October 2022 lot 23 and a pair with truncated ends at the arm rests and crest rail, 9th October 2022, lot 115. See also a similar pair sold in our London rooms, 7th October 2012, lot 281; a pair, from the St. Matthias Church of the Diocese of British Columbia, The Anglican Church of Canada, sold in these rooms, 11-12th September 2012, lot 218; and a pair, formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 85.

The Rev. Henry Loomis (1839-1920), a Presbyterian missionary and great 'friend of the East,' was one of the first in generations of family members who, together with his wife, Jane (née Greene, 1848-1920), formed a close relationship with the people and cultures of East Asia. In 1872, shortly after he and Jane were married, the couple left for Yokohama, Japan in order to begin their lives abroad. Thus, the beginnings of the Greene-Loomis family attachment to Asia had begun. Born into a family that had already established strong ties to Japan, Henry and Jane’s son Evarts Greene Loomis Sr. (1897-1971), together with his wife, Amy (née Brown, 1881-1980), continued their family’s affections for and appreciation of Asia by collecting art and artifacts from the region, including the present lot during their trip to China between 1930-1931.