Large pair of high continuous yoke-back armchairs, Huanghuali wood Late Ming (1573–1644)

Of slender members and elegant proportions, the vigorously shaped top rail carved with a headrest is hidden mortised and tenoned into the stiles which continue through the seat frame to become the back legs. The plain S-shaped back splat is tongue-and grooved into the top rail and tenoned into the seat frame. The S-shaped arms are also hidden mortised and tenoned into the posts which continue through the seat frame to become the front legs. There are two S-shaped circular-section supports fitted into round sockets in the seat frame and the underside of the arms. The seat, of standard mitre, mortise, and tenon construction with exposed tenons, moulds inward and ends in a beaded edge. It was drilled for soft seat and retains an old mat seat with two transverse braces which are mortised and tenoned to the seat frame. Underneath the seat is an apron with a beautiful wide flat-banded edge, butt-joined to the underside of the seat, tongue-and-grooved into the legs and tenoned into the shaped foot-rail. There are similarly shaped aprons without bands on the sides, while the one on the back is plain and high. The legs are joined by square section stretchers, rounded on the outside. There are plain, shaped aprons underneath the shaped footrest and the side stretchers, There are bass mounts at the joints where the arms meet the stiles.

Hong Kong, 1991, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, “The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture”
Singapore, 1997 – 1999, Asian Civilisations Museum, “The Chinese Collection”
London, 1999, Institute of Contemporary Art, “Grace Wu Bruce presents Ming Furniture from the Collection of Dr. S. Y. Yip”
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”

Grace Wu Bruce, Dreams of Chu Tan Chamber and the Romance with Huanghuali Wood: The Dr. S. Y. Yip Collection of Classic Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1991, pp. 26 – 27
Grace Wu Bruce, Grace Wu Bruce presents a choice selection of Ming Furniture from the Dr. S. Y. Yip collections, Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 14 – 15

Similar examples:
Nancy Berliner, Beyond the Screen: Chinese Furniture of the 16th and 17th centuries, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1996, p. 111, for comparable examples except for the inlaid material on the back splat
Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst Köln, PURE FORM Classical Chinese Furniture Vok collection, Munich, 2004, plate 10, illustrates a similar but single chair in the Vok Collection

Continuous yoke-back armchairs are a classic type of Ming chairs. The ranking of chairs in the Ming period was hierarchical with large size and high back chairs being deemed more important seats reserved for the master of the house and senior guests. The present examples with their extremely high backs must mean they were seats of great importance at the time. Except for a beaded edge on the seat frame and a flat-banded edge on the front apron underneath the seat, this pair of chairs is completely plain. Consequently, their height and statuesque proportions are emphasized. The timber chosen for the back splats have whorl patterns, showing huanghuali wood at its best. While the design of these chairs is standard, their exceptional height and fine proportions place them among the best examples of their type.