A rare pair of Chinese huanghuali continuous yoke back armchairs, nanguan mao yi
Qing...

A rare pair of Chinese huanghuali continuous yoke back armchairs, nanguan mao yi

Qing dynasty, 18th century

Each constructed from square members with convex outer faces, with stepped crest-rail above an S-shaped splat and supported by curved back posts which continue to form the rear legs, tapering front posts support the curved arms which continue to form the front legs, all above a spiral-woven mat seat above plain stretchers with plain aprons and spandrels, 112cm high, 61cm wide.

Provenance: The Adler Family Collection.

Solomon Adler was born in Leeds, England, into a Jewish family originally from Belarus.  He studied economics at Oxford and University College London before moving to the U.S. in 1935 for research.  In 1936 Adler joined the U.S. Treasury’s Division of Monetary Research and Statistics, working closely with Harry Dexter White. In 1940 he became a U.S. citizen and in the following year was assigned to China as Treasury representative, serving there until 1948.  It is during this period that he assembled his collection of Chinese furniture. In 1950 he resigned and returned to the U.K., teaching at Cambridge University.  In the early 1960s Adler moved back to China where he lived until his death in Beijing in 1994.  Before leaving the U.K. he passed his possessions to his brother, the father of the present owner. Solomon Alder's brother visited China for the first time in 1965, then a number of additional times after the fall of the 'Gang of Four' in 1977. 

清十八世紀 黃花梨南官帽椅一對

來源：Adler家族收藏。

Solomon Adler出生於英格蘭里茲的一個猶太家庭，家族原籍白俄羅斯。他曾就讀於Oxford和University College London主修經濟學，後於1935年前往美國從事研究工作。1936年，Adler加入了美國財政部的Division of Monetary Research and Statistics，並與Harry Dexter White密切合作。1940年，他成為美國公民，翌年被派往中國擔任財政部代表，任職至1948年。在此期間，他收集了中國家具，形成了其收藏。1950年，Adler辭職並返回英國，在Cambridge University任教。1960年代初期，Adler再次移居中國，並一直居住至1994年於北京逝世。離開英國前，他將自己的財產轉交給弟弟，即現藏家之父。Solomon Adler的弟弟於1965年首次訪問中國，並在1977年「四人幫」倒台後又多次再度訪華。

Note: This form is typically seen throughout the late Ming dynasty, where simplicity allowed for full appreciation of the beauty of the timber used.  The present chairs embody the Ming craftsmen’s search for simplicity and beauty in their restrained and refined construction.  There are a number of defining characteristics of the present chairs which make them particularly rare, most notably that they are constructed using square members; a pair of ‘square member’ chairs from the personal collection of Sir Joseph Hotung were sold in Sotheby’s Hong Kong rooms, 8th October 2022, lot 19.  These are slightly smaller than the present chairs and differ in that they have four protruding ends to the crest-rails and arms (sichutou), and the front arm supports do not continue through the seat to the front leg.  A further ‘sichutou’ pair with square members, dated to the 18th century, sold at Doyle’s New York, 15th March 2021, lot 87. 

Continuous yoke back chairs with round members are not uncommon; see Grace Wu, Three Decades of Ming Furniture, pp. 116-117 for a pair of continuous yoke back armchairs with round arms, crest rail and supports, and square legs.  A similar pair to these sold at Christie’s New York, 23rd March 2018, lot 938.  A pair of continuous yoke back armchairs consisting of entirely square members, dated to the 17th century and previously in the collection of Gustav Ecke, was sold at Christie’s New York in The Marie Theresa L. Virata Collection of Asian Art, 16th March 2017, lot 625.