- 230
A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI YOKEBACK ARMCHAIRS (SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI) 17TH / 18TH CENTURY
Description
- huanghuali wood
Provenance
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Craig Clunas in Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 20, describes armchairs of this type as being made in pairs, suggesting Chinese room arrangements aimed for symmetry. He further notes that Ming and Qing period illustrations characteristically show them used at dinner tables, in reception halls for guests and at the writing table in the scholar’s studio, and illustrates a woodblock print of the 1616 edition of The Golden Lotus (Jing Ping Mei), p. 22, fig. 8. The scene depicts the main male figure and his principal wife seated on guanmaoyi while dining, with his secondary wives and concubines seated on stools. For a general discussion on the basic model and decorative vocabulary of these armchairs see Curtis Evarts, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned’, Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp. 24-33.
Many examples of this iconic form are preserved in major museums and private collections. Similar examples are illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. A70; and one of a pair is illustrated in Nancy Berliner, Beyond the Screen, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, cat. no. 8. For a general discussion on the basic model and elegant decorative vocabulary of these chairs, see Curtis Evarts, 'From Ornate to Unadorned, A Study of Yokeback Chairs', Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp. 24-33.
Further examples of this form include one sold in our London rooms, 13th May 2015, lot 115; and one in these rooms a single chair, 17th-18th March 2015, lot 221; a pair 18th-19th March 2014, lot 419; and another single example with an arched apron also in these rooms, 15th September 2015, lot 10.