A pair of 'huanghuali' horseshoe-back armchairs (Quanyi), 17th century

Peter Lai Antiques, Hong Kong, 1991.

Of elegant rounded form, this pair of chairs is characteristic of one of the most important and beloved designs in the history of Chinese furniture. Chairs of this rounded design, known in Chinese as quanyi (lit. 'circle chairs') and in the West as horseshoe-back armchairs, were particularly popular during the Ming dynasty when they were used as seats of honor in wealthy households. They were frequently depicted in contemporary woodblock illustrations and paintings, 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).

This rounded design was originally derived from bamboo construction techniques, where pliable lengths of bamboo were bent into a U-shape and bound together by natural fibers. Eventually, carpenters turned to hardwood to further improve the design's durability, while the vibrant coloring and attractive grain pattern accentuated the chair's rounded form. To achieve a similarly sinuous result from the rigid hardwood, artisans developed sophisticated joinery techniques, including the elaborate ‘overlapping pressure pin scarf joint’ which joined slightly curved interlocking elements to form the single continuous line of the crestrail. 

Chairs of this type can be distinguished by the decoration of their back splat and apron. Compare the present chairs with a nearly identical pair, possibly part of the same set, published by Grace Wu Bruce in The Best of The Best: The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, vol. 1, Beijing, 2017, pp 208-213; both the MQJ Collection pair and the present examples have an elegant and rare 'lotus blossom and scroll' motif within a ruyi-shaped medallion at the center of the back splat. Likewise, in both pairs, the splats are flanked by cusped spandrels with subtle incised decoration, and the front aprons are carved with interlocking lotus scroll. See, also, a pair of huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs from the collection of Marie Theresa L. Virata, sold at Christie’s New York, 16th March 2017, lot 607, which have similarly carved interlocking lotus scroll to the front aprons and shaped spandrels at either side of the splat but with confronted chilong instead of lotus within the ruyi-medallion.