A HUANGHUALI 'OFFICIAL'S HAT' ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOUGUANMAOYI

The 'four corners-exposed' armchair is one of the earliest and classic forms found in huanghuali furniture design. The elegant lines and grand proportions of the present chair are especially attractive. A number of variations on this type are known, including those with rounded or cut-off squared members, those with carved splats, and those with added decorative carving or embellishment.

A pair of yoke-back arm chairs of comparable proportions, with 'four exposed ends' to the yoke and arms cut-off square, dated to seventeenth century, but with plain aprons, is in The Art Institute of Chicago, and one of which is illustrated by L. Mason Jr. in "Examples of Ming Furniture in American Collections Formed Prior to 1980," Chinese Furniture: Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-1999, p. 134, fig. 7. Another similar pair with plain aprons was sold at Christie’s New York, 13 September 2019, lot 892.