A PAIR OF HUANGHUALI 'OFFICIAL'S HAT' YOKEBACK ARMCHAIRS, GUANMAOYI QING DYNASTY, 17TH/18TH CENTURY

each with a scrolled crest rail above a gently curved backsplat, with out-scrolled arms supported by S-form stiles mortise and tenoned to the seat frame, the legs joined by footrail and stretchers

Collection of Dr J.H. Zeeman, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of the Netherlands, Beijing 1954-1957.
Thence by descent.

These chairs are in reasonably good condition, but there is a repair to the end of the left and right arms (11cm and 10cm long respectively) of one. The other chair has evidence of repair to the crest rail to each side close to the upright (12cm and 11cm long) and there is also repair to the end of the left arm (13cm long), which extends 3cm down the upright. There is slight damage to the other arm where it meets the upright. There are also some slight repairs to the stretchers under the seat rails. There is also evidence of a missing stretcher joining the back legs below the seat rail on both.
"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."

Huanghuali yoke-back armchairs of this type give an impression of striking modernity through their simplicity of form and linear design. Called guanmaoyi or ‘official hat-shaped chairs’, the name derives from its resemblance to the winged hat that was part of the formal attire of Ming officials. They were regarded as high chairs and retained a connotation of status and authority associated with the elite gentry in Chinese society. The classical text Lu Ban jing (Manuscript of Lu Ban), a 15th century carpenter’s manual, gives specifications for these chairs and describes the joinery as the fine embodiment of Chinese furniture. This pair is particularly notable for their humpback stretchers and the ‘goose-neck’ posts which retreat back from the front corners negating the visual confusion of side-posts. They also reflect the trend in Chinese furniture manufacture, from the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century, when the technical expedients in holding a piece together became less evident.

 A huanghuali chair of this type, but carved with an apron under the seat, from the collection of Chen Mengjia, is illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classical Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 45; and another is published in George N. Kates, Chinese Household Furniture, New York, 1948, pl. 79. Compare also similar chairs lacking the ‘goose-neck’ posts under the arm rests, such as one made from rosewood and attributed to the Ming dynasty, from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (I), Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 27; and a hardwood example in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, included in Wang Shixiang, Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture. Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. A71.

 

The origin of this type of chair is much debated by scholars and connoisseurs of Chinese art, with some suggesting this design was imported from outside China. Indeed, early depictions of chairs with protruding posts and yoke-backs most commonly appear in Buddhist contexts associated with the ancient Silk Road, such as a wall painting in cave 196 in Dunhuang, attributed to the Tang dynasty and illustrated in Sarah Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, pl. 4.2. By the Ming dynasty, two different types of official hat-shaped chairs developed: those with the front posts and legs fashioned from a single piece of wood, and those with the arm posts recessed curving inwards, such as the present lot, which are less strong and durable. As such, it is all the more impressive that this pair has survived in such relatively good structural condition.

Craig Clunas in Chinese Furniture, London, 1988, p. 20, describes armchairs of this type being made in pairs, suggesting a symmetry that was aimed for in the Chinese room arrangement. Ming and Qing period paintings and woodblock illustrations characteristically show them used at dinner tables, in reception halls for guests and at the writing table in the scholar’s studio. For example see a woodblock print of the 1616 edition of Jing ping mei (The plum in the golden vase), reproduced ibid., pl. 8, showing the main male character and his principal wife seated on a guanmaoyi while dining with his secondary wives and concubines sit on stools. For a general discussion on the basic model and decorative vocabulary of these armchairs see Curtis Evarts, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned’, Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring 1993, pp 24-33.