A pair of 'huanghuali' 'Southern Official's Hat' armchairs (Nanguanmaoyi), 17th century

Ian McLean Antiques, Hong Kong, 10th June 1992.

Deep amber in color and with richly patterned grain and antique patina, these huanghuali armchairs exude the late Ming dynasty's aesthetic for simple forms and luxuriousness of material.

Chairs of this specific form are known as nanguanmaoyi, or ‘southern-official hat chairs’, and belong to a category of yokeback armchairs that were very popular in the Ming period. Nanguanmaoyi are characterized by the unbroken line from top and side rails to arms and legs, a feature that was made possible through the ingenious right-angle ‘pipe joint’. The present pair are further distinguished by the inclusion of shaped spandrels at the corners beneath the crestrail and the armrests, providing both extra support and stylistic panache.

Compare the current pair with a very closely related single chair illustrated by Sarah Handler in Ming Furniture in the Light of Chinese Architecture, Berkeley, 2005, p. 117, which has similar shaped spandrels below the crestrail and armrests, and similar aprons beneath the seat frame. Another closely related single chair was sold at Christie's New York, 16th September 2016, lot 1202; and a similar pair, formerly in the collects ion of Tsao Hui Min, was sold at Christie's New York, 21st September 2004, lot 27. More recently, a larger pair was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3rd December 2021, lot 3020, and a magnificent pair with vase-shaped posts beneath the armrests was sold in our London rooms, 4th November 2020, lot 107.