A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI CONTINUOUS HORSESHOE-BACK ARMCHAIRS LATE MING DYNASTY

each horseshoe-shaped arm of three sections joined by overlapping pressure-pegged scarf joins, the posts and stiles mortised and tennoned into the arm and extending through the seat frame as legs, two round curved stretchers tongue-and-grooved into both back stiles and tennoned into the underside of the arm forming catapult-shaped supports, the back splat formed by two shaped uprights, mortised and tennoned into the underside of the arm and the back of the seat frame, flanking three mitred horizontal stretchers dividing the back splat into four main registers, the top inset with an openwork panel with a beaded edge, the second with a mat-on-board panel, the third with a further beaded-edged openwork panel, all above a cusped apron with a beaded edge, the arms supported on each side with an elongated round S-shaped brace, the seat frame of mitre, mortise and tenon construction supported with one transverse stretcher underneath, the shorter rails with exposed tenons, hump-back-shaped stretchers with pillar-shaped struts joining the legs below the seat frame, above oval stretchers with flattened undersides joining the side and back legs near the feet and a shaped footrest at the front atop an apron

Grace Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1991, cat. no. 5, pp. 30-31.
The Chinese Collections, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, 1997-99.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., 2000-02.
Grace Wu Bruce, Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr. S.Y. Yip collections, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 36-37.

Huang Cuiwen, 'Mingchao muyi [Wooden chair of the Ming dynasty]', Esquire, Autumn 1988, p. 30.
Yip Shing Yiu, 'Collecting Ming Furniture of Huang Hua-Li Wood', Arts of Asia, May-June 1991, p. 119, fig. 2.

The chairs have been preserved in good condition. As typical of Ming chairs, the matting on the seats and back tests are replaced intermittently. The matting here has been replaced with antique material, but there is some variation in texture of material between the seat and back rest. The top rails have been strengthened in areas where the three sections join, with small areas of consolidation visible in the catalogue photo, but with no impact on the overall form. As expected of late Ming arm chairs, the front aprons where the feet regularly had contact are the most fragile. The texture of the wood on both the front aprons is slightly inconsistent with the rest of the chairs, suggesting they may have been replaced in antiquity. Other general wear to the chairs, as expected of Ming furniture, with corresponding minor retouching to the fragile extremities.
"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."

"This pair was my first acquisition in 1988 that began my journey into Ming furniture. The simple struts are magnificent, and the inlaid mat into the back splat with open work is probably meant for use in Southern China. Never will you find a second piece like it."

One of the three main types of Ming chairs, the horseshoe-back design is uniquely Chinese and has inspired various twentieth century furniture designers to create well-known modern examples. This pair of chairs, due to their continuous arm-post construction, belongs to a rarer type of horseshoe-back armchairs. 

Other special features include the catapult-shaped spandrels on the stiles and the four-part back splat with a caned central section. These chairs, in rich brown colour and dense grain, are made of huanghuali of the best variety.

Section-back Ming chairs are known but there is no similar caned-back horseshoe-back armchair in published examples to date. The 'catapult-shaped' spandrels below the arm are also very rare, the only other known examples are the horseshoe-back armchairs in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, illustrated in Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture: Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Early Ching Dynasties, New York, 1971, pl. 16.