A HUANGHUALI SQUARE STOOL WITH S-BRACES LATE MING / EARLY QING DYNASTY

proportionally constructed with thumb-moulded structural members, the frame top comprising four stretchers with line mouldings, weijiaoxian, on the edges and with rounded corners, the legs similarly decorated with moulded edges and joining the top and base stretchers in pyramid joins, all supported on four small feet at the corners of the base, the stool drilled for soft seat (now restored with old matting) and supported by stretchers underneath, the stretchers and legs tennoned with C-curved braces

In Pursuit of Antiquities: Thirty-fifth Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1995-96, cat. no. 233, p. 261.
The Chinese Collections, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 1997-99.
Grace Wu Bruce, Chan Chair and Qin Bench: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1998, cat. no. 6, pp. 70-71.

The stool has been preserved in exceptionally good condition, with just insignificant surface wear. As typical of Ming furniture, the matting has been replaced periodically.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"A classic cube that must have inspired Rubik, the inventor of Rubik's Cube. The braces, the thumb moulding decoration and the foot pads are just right."

An unusual stool of cube form, it was constructed in the same manner but in a small scale as the early seat platform which predated beds with legs. Very different from other Ming stools, it is extremely rare i surviving examples of classic Chinese furniture.

For a similarly designed pair of stools from the collection of Charlotte Horstmann, the former owner of many piece of huanghuali furniture now at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, see Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ching Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 107. Another pair of stools also of cube form but without S-braces is illustrated in Grace Wu Bruce, Ming Furniture Through My Eyes, Beijing, 2015, p. 163.