Lot Essay
For a discussion on horseshoe-back armchairs, see R.H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasty, New York, 1971, pp. 86-87, and Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, pp. 43-45.
Examples of this popular form in huanghuali include a pair with carved ruyi heads on the splats, illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts in Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, and later sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 1996, lot 99; another pair sold at Christie's New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2247. A single huanghuali horseshoe-back armchair, carved in similar fashion, is illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 68-9, no. 14, where it is dated to the late Ming dynasty, ca. 1600-1650. See, also, the 17th century pair of huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs with carved splats sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1335.
Examples of this popular form in huanghuali include a pair with carved ruyi heads on the splats, illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts in Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Chicago and San Francisco, 1995, p. 56, no. 26, and later sold at Christie's New York, 19 September 1996, lot 99; another pair sold at Christie's New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2247. A single huanghuali horseshoe-back armchair, carved in similar fashion, is illustrated by R.H. Ellsworth in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, New York, 1996, pp. 68-9, no. 14, where it is dated to the late Ming dynasty, ca. 1600-1650. See, also, the 17th century pair of huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs with carved splats sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1335.