Coco Li
Sale Coordinator, Chinese Works of Art
Lot 81Y
A VERY RARE HUANGHUALI 'WANNIAN TAIPING' YOKEBACK ARMCHAIR, GUANMAOYI
Ming dynasty, 16th/17th century
20 March 2023, 11:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$1,980,375 inc. premium
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A VERY RARE HUANGHUALI 'WANNIAN TAIPING' YOKEBACK ARMCHAIR, GUANMAOYI
Ming dynasty, 16th/17th century
The square-sectioned top rail swept back and extending to up-turned ends supported by paired back rails running through the seat frame to form the back legs, and at the mid-point by a three-section curved back splat tenoned into the yoke and seat frame and composed of a plain, central well-figured panel flanked intricate lattice panels centered on a wan symbol at the top and taiping cartouche below enclosed by the beaded frame, the s-curved arm rests of square section and supported by c-shaped posts curved back into the side panels of the seat with beaded spandrels tongue and grooved into the posts, the wide framed seat drilled for a soft cane mat, and fashioned with a molded edge over plain aprons mitered and half-lapped to the front and back rails over boxed stretchers.
Chair: 45 3/4in (116.2cm) total high;
Seat frame: 20 x 26 x 19 1/2in (51.8 x 66 x 49.5cm)
The square-sectioned top rail swept back and extending to up-turned ends supported by paired back rails running through the seat frame to form the back legs, and at the mid-point by a three-section curved back splat tenoned into the yoke and seat frame and composed of a plain, central well-figured panel flanked intricate lattice panels centered on a wan symbol at the top and taiping cartouche below enclosed by the beaded frame, the s-curved arm rests of square section and supported by c-shaped posts curved back into the side panels of the seat with beaded spandrels tongue and grooved into the posts, the wide framed seat drilled for a soft cane mat, and fashioned with a molded edge over plain aprons mitered and half-lapped to the front and back rails over boxed stretchers.
Chair: 45 3/4in (116.2cm) total high;
Seat frame: 20 x 26 x 19 1/2in (51.8 x 66 x 49.5cm)
Footnotes
明 十六/十七世紀 黃花梨攢靠背萬年太平紋四出頭官帽椅
Provenance:
Lai Loy through Peter Lai Antiques, 10 May 1990
來源：
黎來（1926-2012）舊藏，於1990年5月10日購自黎氏古玩（Peter Lai Antiques）
This extraordinary chair has no published comparables in the literature to date housed in a private collection. It is closely related to the Cowles fu character yokeback chair in its stately proportions, everted arm rests and most clearly its tripartite backsplat. In the current lot, the center panel is flanked by two intricate lattice work panels forming the symbol wan, a subtle homophone for 'ten thousand' and a Buddhist symbol for peace, prosperity, and harmony, and a lower panel lattice centered on the two characters tai ping 'great peace'. This combination has a powerful message 'May there be peace for ten-thousand years'. The recipient was clearly a person of great stature.
The beaded upper rail and cloud-shaped headrest is rarely found among known examples of yokeback chairs. The windswept backrails and flared beaded arm rests are of substantial size, and the absence of intermediate posts next to the 'goose neck' front rails reinforce the singular stature of the recipient.
For a related chair of similar size and composition, but lacking the tripartite backsplat, formerly in the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, see Sarah Handler, "Classical Chinese Furniture in the Renaissance Collection", Orientations, January 1991, p. 42, fig. 1 and front cover; and Sarah Handler, "A Yokeback Chair for Sitting Tall", JCCFS, Spring 1993, p. 18, fig. 24, front and back covers and Wang et al., Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture, p. 50, no.23.
For a fine huanghuali yokeback armchair of substantial size with tubular arm rests, backrail and intermediate posts sold in our London rooms, see The H Collection, 13 May 2021, lot 37. For a fine huanghuali armchair of comparable stately proportions sold in these rooms, see Bonhams New York 9 September 2019, lot 890.
