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Lot Essay
The present folding chair is notable for its majestic proportions and the dynamic sweep of the rounded crestrail that terminates in bold, confident outswept hooks. This important folding chair embodies the subtle grace and technical genius of Ming-dynasty huanghuali furniture. It is evident that whoever commissioned this chair had access not only to an abundance of high quality huanghuali and highly skilled woodworkers. The crestrail is constructed in three-parts, in contrast to the more commonly seen five-part rails. This requires longer lengths of wood, and arguably a more skilled woodworker to execute the precise curve in three sections. Furthermore, the carved chilong on the front rail is crisp and fluid. The members overall are unusually thick which highlights the energetic curves and awe-inspiring lines of this specific form of chair.
The folding horseshoe-back armchair was used by the Imperial family and wealthy and powerful individuals and functioned as a symbol of status and rank. The “first folding chair” (di yi ba jiaoyi) is a well-known Chinese saying and conveys the importance of this type of chair, as the most honored seat in a public room. A woodblock print published in the Ming-dynasty carpenter’s manual, Lu Ban Jing, shows an official seated on a folding horseshoe-back chair at the front of the room, with a side chair and a ‘Southern Official’s Hat’ armchair (nanguanmaoyi) arranged to his right and left, respectively. These vacant seats were intended for men of lesser rank and so distinguished the host.
Constructed in a variety of materials and woods, including lacquer, and exotic woods, such as huanghuali, folding horseshoe-back chairs could be used as portable thrones when intended for Imperial use. The folding chair is frequently seen in Ming and Qing period imperial paintings as the seat for both emperors and empresses.
Though folding horseshoe-back armchairs are seen in Ming-dynasty woodblock prints and in Song-dynasty paintings, there are only a limited number of surviving examples dating to 17th century. Of what furniture remains from the Ming period, the folding horseshoe-back armchair is the rarest. Of the surviving examples dating to the Ming dynasty, the majority are found in prominent museum collections, while a few remain in private hands. A huanghuali folding horseshoe-back armchair, dated to the Ming dynasty, with C-curved splat and ruyi medallion, but with more elaborate metalwork on the arms and footrest, is in the Palace Museum collections and is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (vol. 1), Hong Kong, 2002, no. 14. An almost identical pair of huanghuali folding armchairs formerly in the collection of Niu Jian, a teacher to the Daoguang and Xiangfeng Emperors, is in the WuWei Museum in Gansu Province. Like the present folding chair, the pair features the same thick members, dramatic sweeping three-part crestrail, and tripartite splat.
The folding horseshoe-back armchair was used by the Imperial family and wealthy and powerful individuals and functioned as a symbol of status and rank. The “first folding chair” (di yi ba jiaoyi) is a well-known Chinese saying and conveys the importance of this type of chair, as the most honored seat in a public room. A woodblock print published in the Ming-dynasty carpenter’s manual, Lu Ban Jing, shows an official seated on a folding horseshoe-back chair at the front of the room, with a side chair and a ‘Southern Official’s Hat’ armchair (nanguanmaoyi) arranged to his right and left, respectively. These vacant seats were intended for men of lesser rank and so distinguished the host.
Constructed in a variety of materials and woods, including lacquer, and exotic woods, such as huanghuali, folding horseshoe-back chairs could be used as portable thrones when intended for Imperial use. The folding chair is frequently seen in Ming and Qing period imperial paintings as the seat for both emperors and empresses.
Though folding horseshoe-back armchairs are seen in Ming-dynasty woodblock prints and in Song-dynasty paintings, there are only a limited number of surviving examples dating to 17th century. Of what furniture remains from the Ming period, the folding horseshoe-back armchair is the rarest. Of the surviving examples dating to the Ming dynasty, the majority are found in prominent museum collections, while a few remain in private hands. A huanghuali folding horseshoe-back armchair, dated to the Ming dynasty, with C-curved splat and ruyi medallion, but with more elaborate metalwork on the arms and footrest, is in the Palace Museum collections and is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (vol. 1), Hong Kong, 2002, no. 14. An almost identical pair of huanghuali folding armchairs formerly in the collection of Niu Jian, a teacher to the Daoguang and Xiangfeng Emperors, is in the WuWei Museum in Gansu Province. Like the present folding chair, the pair features the same thick members, dramatic sweeping three-part crestrail, and tripartite splat.