well proportioned, an elegantly sinuous crestrail terminating in upswept rounded ends surmounting a pair of curved cylindrical stiles tenoned into the underside of the shaped yoke and continuing through the seat frame forming the back legs, the wide, plain S-curved back splat tongue-and-grooved into the top rail and the back of the seat frame, the outward curving arms supported by S-form braces and mortise-and-tenoned and similarly S-shaped recessed posts, small shaped spandrels tongue-and-grooved to the underside of the arms where they meet the posts, the hard-seat frame of standard miter, mortise and tenon construction, supported by two transverse braces underneath, the plain front apron with long flange brackets butt-joined to the underside of the seat and tongue-and-grooved into the legs, the side and back with plain spandreled aprons, the half-rounded legs joined by a footrail in front and rounded side and back stretchers, a plain shaped apron below the footrest

Sotheby's New York, 18th-19th October 1990, lot 565.

One end of the crestrail broken and reattached. The chair has been slightly reduced in height and all four feet are tipped. The is a patch repair to the inside back leg. There has been general consolidation and minor repairs overall and some expected possible replacements of stretchers and aprons. 敬請注意，本拍品如出口至美國境外需申請相關CITES許可證。
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Huanghuali yokeback armchairs of this type are of striking modernity in the simplicity and balance of their lines. They are called guanmao yi or ‘official's hat-shaped chairs’, the name derived from its resemblance to the winged hat that was part of the formal attire of the Ming officials. They were regarded as high chairs and retained a connotation of status and authority associated with the elite gentry in Chinese society. The classical text Lu Ban jing (Manuscript of Lu Ban), a 15th century carpenter’s manual, gives specifications for these chairs and describes the joinery as the embodiment and fine example of Chinese furniture. They are special because only four pieces of wood are used for the four verticals of the front legs and front arm-posts, the back legs and back posts, with each vertical passing through the frame of the seat. They also reflect the trend in Chinese furniture manufacture, from the 15th century to the 19th century, when the technical expedients in holding a piece together became less evident.

Ming and Qing period literature illustrations characteristically show armchairs of this form used at dinner tables, in reception halls for guests and at the writing table in the scholar’s studio. For example, see a woodblock print in the 1616 edition of The Golden Lotus (Jin Ping Mei) showing the main male character and his principal wife seated on a guanmao yi while dining with his secondary wives and concubines seated on stools illustrated in Craig Clunas, 'The Novel Jin Ping Mei as a Source for the Study of Ming Furniture', Chinese Furniture Selected Articles from Orientations 1984-2003, Hong Kong, 2004, fig. 8, p. 118. For a general discussion on the basic model and decorative vocabulary of these armchairs see Curtis Evarts, ‘From Ornate to Unadorned’, Journal of the Chinese Classical Furniture Society, Spring, 1993, pp. 24-33.  A yokeback armchair with rounded ends, a plain serpentine splat and set back arm posts similar to the present example was sold in these rooms 20th March 2012, lot 127. A related pair from the Robert H. Ellsworth collection was sold at Christie's New York, 18th March 2015, lot 121. Another related pair of undecorated chairs was sold in our London rooms, 7th November 2012, lot 281. A further pair, also 17th century and closely related to the present example, was sold in these rooms, 11th September 2012, lot 218. A related armchair in the Palace Museum, Beijing is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Ming and Qing Furniture in the Palace Museum, Chair, vol. 4,  Beijing, 2016, pp. 122-123.