High yoke-back armchair Huanghuali wood Late Ming (1573–1644)

Of square section members with a shaped yoke into which are tenoned two stiles which continue through the seat frame to become the back legs. The plain C-curved back splat is tongue-and grooved into the top rail and the back of the seat frame. The elongated S-shaped arms, mortised and tenoned into the stiles and the front posts, also S-shaped, are supported by pillar-shaped braces. Small shaped spandrels are tongue-and-grooved to the underside of the arms where they meet the posts. The seat frame, of standard mitre, mortise and tenon construction with exposed tenons on the short sides, was originally drilled for soft seat and now has been restored with old matting, supported by two transverse braces underneath. The plain front apron is butt-joined to the underside of the seat and tongue-and-grooved into the legs. The side and back aprons are similarly shaped. The legs are joined by stretchers also of square section. Underneath the footrest is a plain shaped apron.

Hong Kong, 1995 – 1996, Hong Kong Museum of Art “In Pursuit of Antiquities: Thirty-fifth Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society”
Singapore, 1997 – 1999, Asian Civilisations Museum, “The Chinese Collection”
Berlin, 2000 – 2002, Museum Für Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin
Hong Kong, 2012, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre “Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr S Y Yip collections”

Hong Kong Museum of Art, In Pursuit of Antiquities: Thirty-fifth Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 248
Grace Wu Bruce, Chan Chair and Qin Bench: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture II, Hong Kong, 1998, pp. 58 – 59
Grace Wu Bruce, Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr S Y Yip collections, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 22 – 23
Grace Wu Bruce, Ming Furniture through My Eyes, The Forbidden City Publishing House, Beijing, 2015, p. 111

Similar Example:
Craig Clunas, Chinese Furniture, Victoria and Albert Museum Far Eastern Series, London, 1988, p. 18 for a pair of yoke back armchairs also of square section members, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

High yoke-back armchairs are perhaps the rarest type of chairs in surviving examples of Ming furniture. Chairs of this design can be seen in woodblock illustrations to Ming period novels like Jin Ping Mei, the Golden Lotus. Square member yoke-back armchairs are very rare in surviving examples of Ming chairs although there is quite a large body of other types of Ming furniture made with square stiles, notably sloping-stile wood-hinge cabinets.
This completely plain chair is a fine example of the art of Ming carpenters in creating furniture pieces that are technically sound, visually balanced and aesthetically beautiful. Note the graduated top rail sweeping to finish on everted ends; the splay of the back stile-legs, the curves of the splat and arms and its architectural proportions.