It is extremely rare to find a pair of such chairs of generous proportions and elegantly constructed with a continuous crest rail comprising five sections and a wide back splat carved with confronting chilong enclosed in a ruyi-shaped medallion. These chairs owe their aesthetic appeal to the remarkable fluid movement, which provides a sense of containment and ease to their occupants.Known as quanyi ('circular chair') or yuanyi ('round chair'), horseshoe-back armchairs display the ingenuity of Ming dynasty craft.mes n, who were able to develop complicated and seamless joinery techniques. In order to create the continuous back, members were fitted together with a cut-out to accommodate a tapered wood pin that would lock them firmly in place when inserted. The complexity of the design required exacting craftsmanship as a slight error in the tilt of any of the joins would be magnified by the adjoining members. Once the lacquered coat was applied to the surface crest rail, the underlying joinery was not visible and virtually impossible to wrest apart.

Horseshoe-back armchairs became particularly popular in the Ming dynasty and were frequently depicted in contemporary woodblock illustrated books, where they are shown used in both formal and informal occasions and by both male and female family members. See a pair of armchairs illustrated in the Ming Wanli period edition of Han furen tihong ji [Lady Han inscribes red] (fig. 1).

此對圈椅椅圈五節連接，弧度大而流暢，圈背連著扶手，從高處一順而下。背板上方浮雕螭龍如意紋，從背板S形曲線到圈背一溜而下的走勢，不僅符合人體工學的要求，予人舒適之感，更讓整體造型圓婉流暢，為明式家具科學性的典型例證。蓆心座面，步步高趕底棖，前腿和大邊間券口牙子，簡雅精緻，成對者更為難得。圈椅是明式椅類中之經典，觀此圈椅，不由感嘆古人的智慧，以榫卯與木料接合，堅密穩固，美觀耐用，歷經百年而不衰。天圓地方的造型，是中國文化中的乾坤所在，榫卯是明式家具的靈魂，形與美的統一，正是明式家具的精髓。

圈椅於明朝為風尚，並經常被用於各類的圖譜中。中國古代見客時會以客人地位高低，或關係的親疏設置座椅，而圈椅只是主人或尊貴親近的客人座椅。明萬曆刊本《韓夫人題紅記》插圖有同類圈椅，可資參考（圖一）。