A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI 'OFFICIAL'S HAT' YOKEBACK ARMCHAIRS, GUANMAOYI 17TH CENTURY

each with a scrolled crest rail above a gently curved backsplat, with out-scrolled arms supported by S-form stiles mortise and tenoned to the seat frame, the legs joined by footrail and back stretchers

Collection of Dr J.H. Zeeman, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the Netherlands, Beijing 1954-1957.

Thence by descent.

The chairs are in overall good condition, the wood is of good colour. There are minor chips along the extremities. Both chairs have shrinkage to the front of seat. One chair has the left arm broken and repaired with traces of yellow glue. There is also regluing to the top stretcher near the crossrail to the left side, and along the front vertical strut, and scrolled struts, which is secured with a nail. The bases of the feet are worn. The other chair is chipped to the base of the right arm, 1.5x1cm. It is repaired with a pin to the back, with chips on the underside. There is regluing to the stretchers and side. The left arm has an old repair.
"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."

Huanghuali yoke-back armchairs of this type embody a timelessness in their striking linearity and harmony of form, and were associated with status and authority of the elite gentry in Chinese society. Known as guanmaoyi, or ‘official hat-shaped chairs’, due to their resemblance to the winged hat of Ming officials, they were further categorised into two types: those with protruding crest rails, sichutonuguanmaoyi, and those without, nanguanmaoyi.  The elegance of these chairs lies in the vertical lines which extend outwards slightly as they rise from the seat to lighten the overall effect.

 

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 literature 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. This scene shows the main male figure and his principal wife seated on guanmaoyi while dining with his secondary wives and concubines who are 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.

 

Huanghuali armchairs of this type can be found in a number of museum and private collections; a closely related example, but with a wood seat, from the collection of Chen Mengjia, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 45; and another is included in George N. Kates, Chinese Household Furniture, New York, 1948, pl. 79. Compare similar chairs, but lacking the posts under the arm rests, such as one made from rosewood, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 27; and a hardwood example in the Nanjing Museum, included in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. A71.