A pair of huanghuali continuous yokeback armchairs, Ming dynasty, 17th century | 明十七世紀 黃花梨南官帽椅一對

Grace Wu Bruce, Hong Kong, 2006.

Sotheby's New York, 15th March 2017, lot 581.

嘉木堂，香港，2006年

紐約蘇富比2017年3月15日，編號581

The restrained lines and minimal decoration serve to heighten the statuesque proportions and rich luster of the wood. The timber chosen for the matching back splats has whorl patterns, showing huanghuali wood at its best.

The continuous yokeback armchair is one of the most classic of the scholarly Ming forms; a pair of similar armchairs with shaped aprons is illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pl. 9. In discussing the form the authors conjecture that the inspiration for the continuous top and arm rails might be found in bent bamboo construction popular in the Song and Ming dynasties and cite an illustration of the Wanli period Kunqu opera The Tale of the Jade Hairpin showing a pair of speckled bamboo tall back chairs with continuous crestrails. In addition, pottery examples of this form were found in the tomb of Pan Yunzheng dated to 1589, ibid, p. 52. A pair with inlaid decoration is illustrated in Nancy Berliner, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, p. 111. For a similar but single chair in the Vok Collection, see Nicholas Grindley, Pure Form: klassische Möbel aus China / Pure Form: Classical Chinese Furniture Vok Collection, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Köln, Munich, 2004, pl. 10.

A similar pair but with plain aprons, from the Richard Fabian Collection, was sold in these rooms, 15th March 2016, lot 7; and a pair of taller armchairs from the Collection of Dr. S.Y. Yip was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th October 2015, lot 111.

南官帽椅為中國明式家具經典造型之一，其線條優美、造型舒展，通過明快而優雅的形式體現了明式家具簡練、純粹的美學追求。此對南官帽椅結構嚴謹、用材細緻，既通過造型高大顯示其挺拔俊秀，又兼具靈動線條傳達出的娟秀雅緻。

明尼阿波利斯藝術館館藏一對十七世紀早期黃花梨南官帽椅，圖見 Robert D. Jacobsen 與 Nicholas Grindley，《明尼阿波利斯藝術館藏中國古典家具》，明尼阿波利斯，1999年，圖版9，作者認為此類坐具或源自宋明時期的竹製家具，藉刊行於約1570年的《玉簪記》插圖版畫中就描繪了一對湘妃竹製高靠背椅，搭腦亦不出頭而向下彎扣，同上註，頁52。另見波士頓藝術博物館藏一例，著錄於 Nancy Berliner，《Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th centuries》，波士頓，1996年，頁111。另有單獨一例，見 Nicholas Grindley，《Pure Form: klassische Möbel aus China / Pure Form: Classical Chinese Furniture Vok Collection》，慕尼黑，2004年，圖版10。

拍賣售出之例，見紐約蘇富比曾售出一對，但為光素券口牙子，2016年3月15日。另見攻玉山房舊藏一例，售於香港蘇富比2015年10月7日，編號111。