17TH-18TH CENTURY

Each chair is fitted with an evocative Dali marble panel set within the tripartite splat and supporting a finely carved stepped crestrail. The painterly quality of the figured marbled panels as embellishment to furniture was praised as the height of sophisticated taste among the literati and elite. Chosen for their natural markings and carefully polished to reveal a dreamy landscape, the panels instantly transport the viewer to that contemplative place in nature that only the finest panels can convey. Together, these four panels capture the majestic mountainous landscapes of China.

Ming-dynasty prints frequently depict side chairs used in a variety of settings, including in private rooms, landscaped gardens, and in formal reception spaces. Easily transportable and less formal than armchairs, side chairs would have been made in sets and placed against the wall. To find a true set of four chairs is very rare. Fine chairs were prized for their beauty and their materials, thus complete sets are rarely preserved. It was common for sets of four, or eight chairs, to be divided into singles or pairs. Only a few prominent sets are known, most notably the exquisite set of four huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs from the Robert H. Ellsworth Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 March 2015, lot 41, which realized a record-breaking price of $9,685,000.