Folding horseshoe-back armchairs, perhaps the most highly sought after of all items of Ming (1368-1644) furniture, are among the most striking and most highly celebrated designs created by Chinese carpenters. Conceived to be folded for easy transport, these portable chairs were naturally more prone to damage than other pieces of furniture; few, therefore, could withstand the test of time, making extant examples extremely precious.

Jiaoyi, the term for ‘folding chairs’ in Chinese, literally means ‘crossed chair’, with reference to their intersecting legs.
The Chinese phrase diyi ba jiaoyi, ‘the first taking the jiaoyi’, which is still in use, implies the highest-ranking person of an assembly who sits in a prominent position (fig. 1). Folding chairs with straight back (fig. 2, upper left) were in China already in use in the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), but were also produced in other countries. They were in use in the townhouses and bustling shops of the prosperous Song capital, as depicted in the famous painting Along the River during the Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145).

Illustration in Yangzheng tujie [The book of didactic illustrations], Ming dynasty, Wanli period edition
圖一
明萬曆刊本《養正圖解》插圖
The folding chair with horse-shoe shaped back was a unique invention of China’s furniture makers from around the early 12th century. It is an ingenious combination of an easy-to-carry folding chair and a comfortable armchair (fig. 2, lower right). A remarkable marriage of elegance and functionality, the unique form of the horseshoe-back folding armchair revolutionised the art of chair design. The continuous back and arm rail creates a smooth, fluid curve that gives the chair a dynamic shape with a variable but equally graceful silhouette whether seen straight on, from the side, or in three-quarter view. In addition, it offers a sense of containment and ease by encircling the occupant’s upper body. The wide back splat that provides comfort can be decorated with subtle embellishments without interfering with the linear quality of the overall form. The curved wooden frame is reinforced at critical points with artistically designed metal braces to reinforce the delicate and light structure, and an openwork metal plaque shields and strengthens the footrest. The highly skilled carpenters thus overcame the considerable technical challenges of this construction without compromising on aesthetic appeal, making these extraordinary chairs masterpieces of furniture design. The design reached its peak during the Ming dynasty, when carpenters were able to create the finest furniture from hardwood, such as the beautifully coloured, expensive huanghuali rosewood, by developing sophisticated joinery techniques. The Ming carpenter’s manual Lu Ban Jing (The Treatise of Lu Ban) provides a detailed description for making this unique type of seat and illustrates it with an image of an official seated on such a chair (fig. 3).
The historical importance of jiaoyi can be evidenced by their frequent appearance in paintings and prints from the Song (960-1279) to the Qing (1644-1911) periods. An album leaf from the Southern Song period (1127-1279) in the Palace Museum, Beijing, depicts this recent invention used by an elegant lady out of doors. Another horseshoe-backed folding chair is depicted in a Song album leaf entitled Late Return from Spring Tour in the same museum, where a servant is seen carrying the folded chair on his shoulders as his master rides through a gate towards a grand mansion. In this context, the chair is a representation of the comfortable and relaxed style of living that the owner was accustomed to. The Ming painting Birthday Gathering in the Bamboo Garden by Lü Ji and Lü, also in the Beijing Palace Museum, shows some of the highest-ranking government officials of the day seated on folding round-back chairs. While the furniture represents the social status of the participants, the antiques and scholarly paraphernalia surrounding them suggest their aesthetic discernment and literary accomplishments. The Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95) is also seen, in a handscroll by the Italian artist and Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), seated on a horseshoe-back folding chair on a terrace, while receiving tribute horses from Kazakh envoys. On such a diplomatic occasion, the folding armchair acted as a throne that symbolised imperial power and prestige of the ruler.

Castiglione Giuseppe (1688-1766), Qazak paying tribute of horses to Qianlong Emperor, 1757, detail, Musée Guimet, Paris
Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Michel Urtado
圖四
清乾隆二十二年(1757年) 郎世寧《哈薩克貢馬圖》卷 設色紙本 局部 巴黎吉美國立亞洲藝術博物館
Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (MNAAG, Paris) / Michel Urtado Michel Urtado / RMN-GP
Less than thirty horseshow-backed folding chairs are known to exist from the Ming dynasty, largely preserved in museums. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, considers its lacquer version of a folding armchair (accession no. FE.8-1976) ‘among the Museum's most important Chinese treasures’. Only five other jiaoyi with damascened iron mounts appear to have been published. They are considered to be among the earliest examples of Ming jiaoyi and would all have been made in the same workshop. Three of them, closely related to each other, are decorated with a double-dragon ruyi-cloud medallion carved on the upper section of the back splat: one from the Qing Court collection and still in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 14; another was sold in our New York rooms, 18th September 1996, lot 311, later in the collection of Ruth and Bruce Dayton and now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (accession no. 98.80.3), illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, cover image and pl. 11; the third, formerly in the collection of Chen Mengjia, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, London, 1986, pl. 57. The remaining two have more elaborate carving on the splat: one carved with a continuous floral scroll, preserved in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (accession no. 68-1), was included in the exhibition Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, cat. no. 3; the other carved with a stylised dragon and shou character in the form of a ding tripod, formerly in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Renaissance, California, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang and Evarts Curtis, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, San Francisco and Chicago, 1995, pl. 35, and was sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 50. The relatively simple design of the present chair, with a plain but curvier back splat, is distinguished by its purity of form and gives a sense of refined elegance and timelessness.
明代家具種類繁多,圈背交椅匯匠心、運神技,備受搜求。為方便攜帶,交椅作折疊式,故較其他家具更易損壞,因此,傳世交椅尤為稀貴。
顧名思義,交椅腿足交叉。中文有「第一把交椅」之說,沿用至今,比喻高居首位之人(圖一)。直背交椅(圖二左上)北宋(960-1127年)已有,其他諸國亦見製造。宋都汴京八街九陌,墅舍、市鋪皆用直背交椅,觀張擇端(1085-1145年)名畫《清明上河圖》便可得見。

Illustration in Sancai tuhui [Assembled pictures of the three realms], Qi yong shier juan [Twelve volumes of useful objects], Ming dynasty, Wanli period edition
圖二
明萬曆刊本《三才圖會.器用.十二卷》插圖
圈背交椅乃中國家具獨創,初見於十二世紀初。交腿便攜,圈背舒適(圖二右下),合而為一實屬巧思;圈背交椅造型新穎,既得優雅又兼實用,為座椅設計別開生面。搭腦、扶手連成椅圈,形似月牙,無論正面、側面,皆呈流線圓弧。椅圈環抱上身,予坐者熨帖自在,靠背板可作裝飾,與整體相得益彰。弧形木架關節處設鐵錯銀飾件,腳踏附鏤雕金屬板,纖巧之餘亦添穩固。圈背交椅結構考究且不失美感,可謂家具傑作。交椅工藝於明代登峰造極;明代,工匠活用硬木,如名貴木材黃花梨,柔麗木紋配以嫻熟木工,方成上乘家具。明代木匠寶典《魯班經》對此獨特座椅有所詳述,並插圖繪一名官員坐交圈背椅上(圖三)。
歷史上,交椅意義非同小可,由宋(960-1279年)至清(1644-1911年)屢屢見諸繪畫、印本。如北京故宮博物院藏南宋(1127-1279年)《蕉陰擊球圖頁》,圖中一女子置交椅於庭院;另一宋例《春遊晚歸圖頁》,亦藏北京故宮博物院,圖中主人騎馬入門走向廣廈,一僕從肩扛交椅相隨在後。此語境中,主人生活安逸殷實,以一交椅可見一斑。明代呂紀、呂文英合繪《竹園壽集圖》卷,仍藏北京故宮博物院,所繪數人於當朝官高爵顯,坐圈背交椅;除交椅揭示人物地位,身後骨董、文玩亦展露其文人意趣。郎世寧(1688-1766年)繪《哈薩克貢馬圖》中,乾隆皇帝(1736-95年在位)坐圈背交椅於石階上,點閱哈薩克來使進貢良駒;此類外事場合,交椅如龍椅,象徵皇權,彰顯天子威儀(圖四)。

Illustration in Lu Ban jing [The treatise of Lu Ban], Ming dynasty edition
圖三
明刊本《魯班經》插圖
明代傳世圈背交椅不足三十把,大多藏於博物館。倫敦維多利亞與艾爾伯特博物館藏有一把髹漆交椅(編號FE.8-1976),館方稱其為「鎮館中國珍品之一」。遍查著錄,另見五把交椅帶鐵錯銀飾件,當屬明代交椅最早幾例,出自同一作坊。其中三把,各各相似,靠背板上方皆飾雙龍如意雲團紋:其一,清宮舊藏,現仍貯北京故宮博物院,錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集・明清家具》,上卷,香港,2002年,圖版14;其二,售於紐約蘇富比1996年9月18日,編號311,後由 Ruth 與 Bruce Dayton 伉儷雅蓄,現藏明尼阿波利斯美術館(編號98.80.3),見 Robert D. Jacobsen、Nicholas Grindley,《Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts》,明尼阿波利斯,1999年,封面及圖版11;其三,陳夢家舊藏,錄於王世襄,《Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties》,倫敦,1986年, 圖版57。此外兩把,靠背板雕紋更富麗:其一,雕纏枝花卉,藏堪薩斯城納爾遜.阿特金斯藝術博物館(編號68-1),展於《Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th Centuries》,波士頓美術館,1996年,編號3;其二,靠背飾鼎式龍紋壽字開光,先後藏於多倫多皇家安大略博物館,及中國古典家具博物館,文藝復興鎮,加州,錄王世襄、柯惕思,《Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture》,三藩市與芝加哥,1995年,圖版35,售於紐約佳士得1996年9月19日,編號50。此把交椅簡素無紋,靠背板彎弧分明,整體線條潔淨,幽然雋永。