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A RARE HUANGHUALI 'FOUR-CORNERS EXPOSED' OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI 17th century image 1
A RARE HUANGHUALI 'FOUR-CORNERS EXPOSED' OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI 17th century image 2
A RARE HUANGHUALI 'FOUR-CORNERS EXPOSED' OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI 17th century image 3
PROPERTY FROM A CANADIAN COLLECTION
Lot 15TW,Y

A RARE HUANGHUALI 'FOUR-CORNERS EXPOSED' OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI
17th century

Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art including the Francine and Bernard Wald Collection of Fine Snuff Bottles, Part I
17 March 2025, 09:00 EDT
New York

US$150,000 - US$250,000

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A RARE HUANGHUALI 'FOUR-CORNERS EXPOSED' OFFICIAL'S HAT ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI

17th century
The elegant pitched toprail supported by a plain, well-figured back splat flanked by tubular back posts which continue through the seat to form the hind supports and are tenoned to finely shaped arm rests supported by s-shaped posts set into the rectangular framed seat fitted with a soft mat above two curved stretchers under the frame, the front apron carved with a xiangcai pattern set off by a beaded edge which continues down the front spandrels set into the footrest joined to the front posts and stepped stretchers, the finely figured wood a rich honey-brown color throughout.
45 3/4in (116.3cm) high; 27 1/4in (69.3cm) wide overall; 22 1/2in (57.2cm) deep overall; 19 1/2in (49.6m) seat height

Footnotes

十七世紀 黃花梨四出頭彎材官帽椅

Provenance:
A Maryland Private Collection
Christie's, New York, 22 March 2019, lot 1666

來源：
馬里蘭州私人收藏
紐約佳士得，2019 年 3 月 22 日，拍品編號 1666

This example, a sichutou guanmaoyi, is one example of the classic lines and graceful elegance of classical Chinese furniture. Huanghuali yokeback armchairs such as the present chair, through the simplicity and balance of their lines represent the spare but opulent aesthetic of the Ming elite. Chairs such as this are distinguished by their large size, the generous sweep of the crestrail, well-shaped terminals and elegantly-curved front and back posts.

The remarkable level of carpentry of this chair is also visible in the plain S-shaped back splat, which is tongue-and-grooved into the underside of the top rail and tenoned to the back member of the seat frame.

The term guanmaoyi refers to the winged hat worn by Ming officials at formal events. It conveyed status and authority associated with the highest-ranking classes in China. Prior to the Ming dynasty, yokeback armchairs served as seats for Imperial family members and deities. Gaozong's empress (Gaozong r. 1127-1162), for example, is depicted gracefully seated on a yokeback armchair in one of a series of portraits of Song dynasty Imperial figures in the Palace Museum, Taipei; see S. Handler, Austere Luminosity of Classical Chinese Furniture, London, 2001, p.46, fig.4.4.

See a nearly identical example published in Curtis Evarts, "Classical Chinese Furniture in the Piccus Collection", in The Journal of The Classical Chinese Furniture Society, Autumn, 1992, p. 11, figure 11 and Curtis Evarts, "From Ornate to Unadorned, The Study of a Group of Yokeback Chairs", op.cit.,Spring, 1993, p. 31, fig. 9, and Grace Wu Bruce, The Best of the Best, The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, Vol. 1, pp. 220-221. Compare with a nearly-identical huanghuali yokeback armchair, late 16th-early 17th century, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated by N. Berliner, 'When Vernacular Meets Fine: Thoughts on Chinese Furniture Studies', Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, Hong Kong, 1999, pp.215, fig.11. A similar huanghuali yokeback chair, 17th century, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 March 2012, lot 127.

For other examples of this type see Christie's Hong Kong 30 May 2022, lot 2902; another sold Christie's Hong Kong 28 May 2021, lot 2802; see Bonhams, London, The H Collection, 13 May 2021, lot 37; and a related chair sold Bonhams, Paris, 26 October 2023, lot 60.

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A PAIR OF LARGE TANG-STYLE PAINTED WOOD HORSES China, early 20th century
A TURQUOISE BEIJING GLASS BOTTLE VASE China, 18th/19th century,
TWO MAKIE-E LACQUER TEA BOWL STANDS Japan, late Edo period (1615–1868) or Meiji era (1868–1912), 19th century,
A SOAPSTONE FIGURE OF LI BAI China,
A rare Chinese group of the Tyrolean Dancers, Qianlong period, circa 1752
A WHITE-GLAZED BOTTLE VASE Korea, Yi dynasty,
A WHITE-GLAZED BOTTLE VASE Korea, Yi dynasty,
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FIVE BURMESE AND THAI GILTWOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA Late 19th/20th century
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Birodo Yuzen Meiji era (1868-1912)
TWO JAPANESE BRONZE SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS Meiji/Taisho era
A KOREAN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND COPPER-RED-DECORATED 'GRAPEVINE' GLOBULAR JAR Late Joseon dynasty
A JAPANESE SIX-PANEL 'FARM SCENE' FOLDING SCREEN Late 19th/early 20th century
A KOREAN FOUR-PANEL 'PEONIES AND CALLIGRAPHY' FOLDING SCREEN Late Joseon dynasty
AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL 'LADIES' SNUFF BOTTLE, SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN 1919
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A PAINTED LACQUERED-WOOD FOUR-DOOR CABINET Early 20th century
A SIXTY THREE-PLATE SUJIBACHI KABUTO HELMET Japan, late Muromachi period (1333-1573),
A MOUNTED WAKIZASHI Japan, Edo period, 19th century,