A pair of 'huanghuali' corner-leg stools (Fangdeng), 17th century

British Private Collection, acquired 18th May 1987.

Sotheby's London, 9th June 1992, lot 47.

This pair of waisted huanghuali stools is notable for its sturdy appearance achieved through the legs that end in horse-hoof feet. Stools of this classical form with humpbacked stretchers were produced in large numbers from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) onwards, as their small size and light weight made them highly versatile. George N. Kates also notes that in the Tang dynasty (618-907) the stool in all its varieties ‘was considered the ideal seat for a woman’ because sitting on it displays the curves of a lady’s back, neck and shoulders to best advantage, while the position is considered modest to others, see Chinese Household Furniture, New York, 1948, p. 49.

Compare a pair from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, illustrated in Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, fig. 2. pp 38-9; one illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 15; and another pair sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th November 2012, lot 2007. Compare also a related piece, illustrated in Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch'ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 115, and sold at Christie’s New York, 25th September 2020, lot 1655; one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th November 2012, lot 2007; and a pair sold at Christie’s New York, 23rd March 2018, lot 963.