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Lot Essay
The current pair of chairs belongs to a small group, featuring flanged tripartite backsplat with a central well-figured burlwood panel set between an openwork fu-character and a U-shaped panel, the turned vase-and-bamboo arm post, and inward set barbed and beaded apron.
According to Curtis Evarts in his article, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned: A Study of Yoke-back Chairs’. The Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp.24-33, there are nine other armchairs of this form known, despite slight variations in size and decoration. There are only two other pairs recorded: one, same as the current lot, formerly from the Reverend Richard Fabian, sold at China Guardian Beijing, 17 November 2019, lot 4636; the other formerly in the collection of John Alex McCone, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1992, lot 348, but with huanghuali panels in the center of backsplat instead of burlwood. Evarts linked these eleven superbly crafted chairs to a larger group of twenty-four, bearing all or some of the decorative elements, indicating that they were individually commissioned from a single workshop.
This pair of highly ornate yokeback armchairs is rich with symbolic meaning. The prominent fu character conveys a wish for happiness, while the vase and bamboo (zhubao pingan) posts, serves as a rebus for ‘ (bamboo) virtue brings peace’, and the dynamic carved spandrels flanking the backsplat culminating in flowerheads under the toprail set the chair firmly as a great gift to commemorate an important life achievement.
This item is made of a type of Dalbergia wood which is subject to CITES export/import restrictions since 2 January 2017. This item can only be shipped to addresses within Hong Kong or collected from our Hong Kong saleroom and office unless a CITES re-export permit is granted. Please contact the department for further information.
According to Curtis Evarts in his article, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned: A Study of Yoke-back Chairs’. The Journal of the Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp.24-33, there are nine other armchairs of this form known, despite slight variations in size and decoration. There are only two other pairs recorded: one, same as the current lot, formerly from the Reverend Richard Fabian, sold at China Guardian Beijing, 17 November 2019, lot 4636; the other formerly in the collection of John Alex McCone, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 3 June 1992, lot 348, but with huanghuali panels in the center of backsplat instead of burlwood. Evarts linked these eleven superbly crafted chairs to a larger group of twenty-four, bearing all or some of the decorative elements, indicating that they were individually commissioned from a single workshop.
This pair of highly ornate yokeback armchairs is rich with symbolic meaning. The prominent fu character conveys a wish for happiness, while the vase and bamboo (zhubao pingan) posts, serves as a rebus for ‘ (bamboo) virtue brings peace’, and the dynamic carved spandrels flanking the backsplat culminating in flowerheads under the toprail set the chair firmly as a great gift to commemorate an important life achievement.
This item is made of a type of Dalbergia wood which is subject to CITES export/import restrictions since 2 January 2017. This item can only be shipped to addresses within Hong Kong or collected from our Hong Kong saleroom and office unless a CITES re-export permit is granted. Please contact the department for further information.