A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIRS, QUANYI 17TH/18TH CENTURY

each with curving toprail sloping down to the arms terminating in a curved hook beyond the corner posts set with shaped spandrels, the backsplat carved with an open-work ruyi-shaped panel, the lower register with a scrolled open-work panel, the back corner posts continuing below the rectangular frame, with mat seat, to the back legs joined by stretchers and a footrest

Collection of Steffen Anton Klubien, 1890 – 1970. 
Thence by descent.

The pair of horse-shoe shaped chairs are in reasonably good condition, but each of the legs have been slightly reduced. There are some old repairs to the joints on the curving top rails of both. There is cracking repairs to the pierced ruyi panel to one splat on one chair and a 14.5cm by 2cm repair to the underside of the footrest to the other.
"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."

Elegantly constructed with a panelled splat that has been carved in openwork, horseshoe-back armchairs of this type are unusual, although a set of four similar chairs, from the collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, illustrated in Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ch’ing Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 15, was sold at Christie’s New York, 17^th March 2015, lot 41. Another chair with a similar splat is depicted in the painting attributed to Qiu Ying (c. 1494-c. 1552), illustrating the Yuan dynasty romance Xixiang Ji (The story of the western Wing), and published in Sarah Handler, Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkley, 2005, p. 109.

Chairs of this type are also known with a panelled splat carved in relief, such as a wumu example included in the exhibition Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, 1982, cat. no. 66; and a pair sold in our New York rooms, 11^th/12^th April 1990, lot 626.

The Danish author Steffan Klubien was former office manager of the Chinese Customs Office in Peking, Tianjin and Shanghai, where he served from 1914 to 1928. The chairs were purchased by him in Peking in 1916.