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Lot Essay
The present pair of chairs displays an unparalleled grace and finesse seen only in the finest furniture dating to the Ming dynasty. Of the four categories of chair, the 'four corners-exposed' armchair is one of the earliest classic forms found in huanghuali furniture design. The present pair of chairs is distinguished by the elegant lines and fine quality of the huanghuali.
The deeply curved crest rails with rounded ends are beautifully carved and dramatically contrast the box-like construction of the lower section. The thick curved members would have resulted in a significant amount of wastage, and suggests the considerable importance of the gentleman who commissioned the chairs. The most comparable published example, of similar proportion, is a single chair in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 26. Like the present pair, the Palace Museum example exhibits the same deeply curved crest rail, square-section legs, and box-like construction below the seat.
The deeply curved crest rails with rounded ends are beautifully carved and dramatically contrast the box-like construction of the lower section. The thick curved members would have resulted in a significant amount of wastage, and suggests the considerable importance of the gentleman who commissioned the chairs. The most comparable published example, of similar proportion, is a single chair in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 26. Like the present pair, the Palace Museum example exhibits the same deeply curved crest rail, square-section legs, and box-like construction below the seat.