Sale Information

CHRISTIE'S

Lot 151 / Sale 2027
Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
17 September 2008
New York, Rockefeller Plaza

A SET OF FOUR HUANGHUALI SIDE CHAIRS

18TH/19TH CENTURY

Price Realized (Set Currency) US$60,000

Estimate US$60,000 - $80,000

Lot Description
A SET OF FOUR HUANGHUALI SIDE CHAIRS
18TH/19TH CENTURY
The curved toprails fitted flush with the corner posts of round section, above the single-panel wood seats set within the rectangular frames, the backsplats plain, the legs of square section joined by stepped stretchers and shaped footrests with plain, narrow aprons
42 7/8 in. (109 cm.) high, 21 in. (53.3 cm.) wide, 16 7/8 in. (42.9 cm.) deep (4)

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION

Provenance
Grace Wu Bruce, Ltd.

Lot Notes
It is unusual to find side chairs with continuous humpback crestrails, as most examples with such rails protrude beyond the side rails. It is much more common to find armchairs of this continuous rail type.

Several examples of side chairs with protruding crestrails, known as dengguayi, are published. See Wang Shixiang et. al., Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1990, p. 37, nos. A54 and A57. See, also, the side chair dated to the late 17th century, illustrated by R. Jacobsen, Classical Chinese Furniture in The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, pp. 54-5, no. 10, where the author states that side chairs were made in sets and kept readily available against the walls of the house until they were needed.