A 17th-century Chinese folding chair to lead Christie's NY Asia Week w

Summary:

In the wake of pandemic, Ming (1368-1644) furniture made of huanghuali wood, an endangered fragrant rosewood, has been highly-prized and coveted among collectors, where many sparked enthusiastic bidding to sold far beyond estimates at auctions.
Among those pieces, particularly eye-catching are the extremely rare folding chairs. In 2021, one dated 17th century fetched HK$66 million (US$8.5 million) at Christie's Hong Kong, setting an auction record for a folding chair. The following year, another dated late Ming dynasty from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung break that record at HK$124.6 million (US$16 million), also a record price for a Chinese chair.

Riding on the momentum, Christie's is presenting yet another huanghuali folding chair from 17th century as the star lot of this season's New York Asia Week, which is estimated between US$2 and 3 million.

With an estimate between US$2 and 3 million, the price of the present lot might be quite far away from the two record-breaking folding chair mentioned above. Yet, looking through the records, it seems that auction houses tend to be cautious about the pre-sale price tag of these huanghuali pieces.

Christie's Hong Kong, May 2021 | Huanghuali folding horseshoe-back armchair, 17th century | Estimate: HK$8 million (US$1.02 million), Sold: HK$66 million
Sotheby's Hong Kong, October 2021 | Huanghuali folding horseshoe-back armchair, late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung | Estimate: HK$10 million (US$1.28 million), Sold: HK$124.6 million

As suggested above, the folding chairs soared to between eight and twelve times their estimates to set auction records; and the present lot, with an estimate higher than the two, is bound to ignite another round of fierce biddings.

Folding horseshoe-back armchairs, perhaps the most highly-sought after of all items of Ming (1368-1644) furniture, are among the most striking and most highly celebrated designs created by Chinese carpenters. Conceived to be folded for easy transport, these portable chairs could said to be ancient imperial ‘camping chairs’ designated for travelling dignitaries.

The horseshoe-back design, with its sweeping U-shaped crest rail, was a unique invention of China's furniture makers from around the early 12th century. A marriage of elegance and functionality, the fluid curve gives the chair a dynamic shape and graceful silhouette, while offering a sense of containment and ease by encircling the occupant's upper body.

Such design on folding chairs, however, is easily adapted to collapsing. When folded, the front seat rail fits snugly within the curved supports of the arms – a complex construction more prone to damage than other pieces of furniture. Not many of them, therefore, could withstand the test of time, making these armchairs such rare finds in the market nowadays.

Less than thirty horseshoe-back folding chairs are known to exist from the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, largely preserved in prominent museums; leaving only a few in private hands, including the present one.

In ancient Chinese history, folding horseshoe-back jiaoyi - or armchairs, were used by the imperial family and individuals from the upper-class. The Chinese phrase ‘the first taking the jiaoyi’, which is still in use, implies the highest-ranking person of an assembly who sits in a prominent position.

The historical importance of jiaoyi can be evidenced by their frequent appearance in paintings and prints from the Song (960-1279) to the Qing periods, where some of them show servants carrying these folding chairs on their backs as they walk through the countryside. It was widely used both in formal and informal settings, sometimes even on the battlefields.

The design reached its peak during the Ming dynasty, when carpenters were able to create the finest furniture from huanghuali, or yellow flowering pear wood, a type of highly-prized rosewood known for the attractive grain, the rich hues that vary from reddish-brown to honey tones, as well as the natural, sweet scent.

The present folding chair, dated 17th century, is notable for its majestic proportions and the energetic rounded crestrail that terminates in bold, confident outswept hooks. In contrast to the more commonly seen five-part rails, the present one is constructed in three-parts, requiring longer lengths of the precious exotic wood, and arguably a more skilled woodworker to execute the precise curve in three sections.

Endowed with a remarkable provenance, the piece was first owned by Peter Lai, a prominent, well-respected art dealer in Chinese hardwood furniture. It entered a Japanese private collection in early 1990s, before selling to the present North American collector at Christie's Hong Kong in 1994.

Source by thevalue.com