A RARE HUANGHUALI YOKEBACK 'OFFICIAL'S HAT' ARMCHAIR, SICHUTOU GUANMAOYI
17th centuryGracefully proportioned with a solidly carved toprail, the shaped yoke and upswept flat ends supported on corner posts continuing through to the back legs, and flanking a thick s-shaped rectangular back splat, the elongated serpentine arms supported by curved stiles and posts, the hard-mat seat above the round-section front legs joined by continuous beaded and cusped aprons, with side and back stretchers with plain aprons and a footrest. 110.5cm (43 2/8in) high x 57cm (5/8in) wide x 44.5cm (17 1/2in) deep.
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十七世紀 黃花梨四出頭官帽椅Provenance: Nicholas Grindley, Barling of Mount Street, London, 13 July 1992Sotheby's New York, 17 March 2015, lot 221 An important European private collection來源:1992年7月13日,購自英國倫敦古董商,Barling of Mount Street,Nicholas Grindley紐約蘇富比,2015年3月17日,拍品編號221歐洲重要私人收藏The 'four-corners-exposed' chair structure is one of the earliest classic forms found in huanghuali furniture chair design. Early forms of this chair can be seen in murals at Dunhuang dating from the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which saw a further evolution throughout the Tang and Song dynasties; see Quincy Chuang ed., Fine Ming and Qing Furniture in the Shanghai Museum, Hong Kong, 1998, p.36.The present pair of armchairs represents one of the most sculptural forms of Chinese furniture dating to the late Ming period. The graceful and sinuous shaping of the frame members resonate with dynamism and elegance, and the vigorous top rails resemble the protruding wings of the hats worn by Ming officials, hence the generic name of 'official's hat' chairs. The flat ends of the yokes and arms impart a restrained inner strength reinforcing the stately presence of the chairs.Compare a very similar pair of huanghuali yokeback armchairs, 16th/17th century, illustrated in Splendor of Style: Classical Chinese Furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1999, p.82; another similar example, circa 1600, in the John W. Gruber collection, is illustrated by S.Handler, Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, Berkeley, 2001, p.54, fig.4.14 (one of a pair); a further similar armchair is illustrated by R.H.Ellsworth, Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu, 1981, no.10. See also another related armchair with four protruding ends, cloud motif on splat and tendril on apron, Ming dynasty, illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture – Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Bangkok, 1986, pl.46; and another example in the collection of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, Beijing, illustrated by Chen Zengbi, 'Central Academy of Arts and Crafts: Illustrations of Collections' Zhongyang Gongyi Meishu Xueyuan Yuancang: Zhenpin Tulu, vol.2: Mingshi Jiaju ('Ming Furniture'), Hong Kong, 1994, p.23.A similar single huanghuali yokeback armchair, late Ming dynasty, of slightly smaller size and with a medallion on the splat, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 6 April 2016, lot 108; compare also with a pair of huanghuali yokeback armchairs, 17th century, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 11-12 September 2012, lot 218.主體以圓材製作,素面三彎靠背板嵌入搭腦下方與椅盤後大邊槽口,後腿上截穿過椅盤作肩出榫納入彎弧搭腦,三彎弧形的扶手同樣作肩出榫接合後腿上截,前方接前腿鵝脖,穿過椅盤成前腿足,中間支以三彎形上細下大的圓材聯幫棍。籐編座面,椅盤下三面壺門券口牙子,後方為短牙子。腿間施步步高趕棖,踏腳棖及左右兩側管腳棖下各安一素牙子。四出頭官帽椅是傳統家具坐具中最早形成的經典結構之一,南北朝時期的敦煌壁畫上就已出現這種椅子的雛形,並經唐宋時期進一步演變,見莊貴崙編著,《莊氏家族捐贈上海博物館明清家具集萃》,香港,1998年,頁36。本具四出頭官帽椅造型大氣,簡練雋永,傳達出明末傳統家具之最具雕塑感的美學形式。搭腦正中削出斜坡,向兩旁微微下垂,至盡端又復上翹,形如官帽的展腳。有別於更為常見的直材四出頭官帽椅,本拍品構件纖細,但彎轉弧度大,製作時不惜剖割大料,以實現"柔婉"的效果,為堅硬的木材賦予了彈性之美。一具十六至十七世紀黃花梨官帽椅,與本例極似,收錄於《風華再現:明清家具收藏展》,台北,國立歷史博物館,1999年,頁82,可資比對。另比較一具美國收藏家John W. Gruber舊藏約1600年制黃花梨官帽椅,見S.Handler著,《Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture》,柏克萊,2001年,頁54,圖版4.14;以及一具收錄於安思遠著,《Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections》,檀香山,1996年,編號10。另有兩例分別收錄於王世襄著,《明式家具珍賞》,曼谷,1986年,頁46;及陳增弼 中央工藝美術學院編,《中央工藝美術學院院藏珍品圖錄 第二輯 明式家具》,香港,1994年,頁23。比較一具明晚期黃花梨官帽椅,尺寸近似但背板上以浮雕裝飾,售於香港蘇富比,2016年4月6日,拍品編號108;以及一對十七世紀黃花梨官帽椅,售於紐約蘇富比,2012年9月11-12日,拍品編號218。
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