A pair of 'huanghuali' rectangular stools (Fangdeng), 17th century

This understated yet elegant pair of stools, of solid construction and rich golden tone, is typical of the refined taste in furniture prevalent during the Ming dynasty. Of proud perpendicular form with graceful mitred aprons, the pair are imbued with an ineffable sense of height and grandeur.

Waistless stools of this type have been embraced by China’s elite families since at least the Song dynasty – their lightweight yet grand design well-suited to moving between courtyards and palaces on festive occasions; see a related stool in a Song dynasty tomb painting found in Baisha, reproduced in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. 2.1. Compare a closely related huanghuali example of this type from the Wang Shixiang Collection, now preserved in the Shanghai Museum in ibid., vol II, pl. A3; two other related huanghuali stools from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, Renaissance, sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 1996, lot 15, and illustrated as a set of four in Grace Wu, The Best of the Best. The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, vol. 2, Beijing, 2017, pp 284-287.