Lot 634. A rare imperial mother-of-pearl lacquered 'ruyi'-backed chair, Kangxi period (1662-1722);86.9cm (33 7/8in) high x 50cm (19 5/8in) wide x 38cm (15 2/8in) deep. Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000. Sold for £ 22,750 (€ 26,452). Courtesy Sotheby's.

Set with an arch-shaped seat framed by a back splat with a scroll terminal, flanked by open-frame ruyi armrests, all above a shaped apron on all four sides above straight terminating in hoof feet, decorated overall with painted and mother-of-pearl-inlaid designs of flowering shrubs.

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Roger Keverne Ltd., Summer Exhibition, London, 2002, no.135.

Note: Chairs such as the present lot are rare due to their delicate nature, and few have survived. M.Beurdeley illustrates a large example, Ming dynasty, Chinese Furniture, Tokyo, 1979, p.116, no.158. Compare also the similar design on a mother-of-pearl inlaid painted lacquered table, early Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Classics of the Forbidden City: Imperial Furniture of the Ming & Qing Dynasties Beijing, 2007, pp.152-153, no.171.