60. 60Y RARE GRAND FAUTEUIL EN HUANGHUALI, NANGUANMAOYI Fin de la dynastie Ming A RARE LARGE HUANGHUALI CONTINUOUS YOKEBACK ARMCHAIR, NANGUANMAOYI Late Ming Dynasty Generously proportioned with an elegantly arched yokeback toprail supported by shaped spandrels and curving down to join the gently sloping rear posts continuing through the rectangular seat frame enclosing a hard-mat seat to form the back legs, with a well-figured wide back splat tenoned to the underside of the yoke and into the back rail of the seat frame, the curved arms supported by tapering side posts and recessed front posts joined by a plain beaded apron, the feet joined by the footrest and side stretchers. 110cm (43 1/4in) high. 明晚期 黃花梨南官帽椅 Provenance: Formerly in a German collection formed in China between 1912 and 1938 來源： 德國私人舊藏，於1912年至1938年間得自中國 Chairs of this specific form are known as nanguanmaoyi (Southern-official hat chairs), and belong to a category of yokeback armchairs that were very popular in the Ming period. Nanguanmaoyi are characterised by the unbroken line from top and side rails to arms and legs, a feature that was made possible through the ingenious right-angle pipe joint. This particular variation with continuous back and arm rails was first developed in the Ming dynasty, possibly inspired by bamboo chair construction, where pliable lengths of bamboo were bent and bound together with natural fibres, see Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley, Classical Chinese Furniture in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1999, pl.9. A similar chair is illustrated in Robert H. Ellsworth, Chinese Furniture, New York, 1970, pl.6. Compare also with a pair of large continuous yokeback armchairs from the collection of Dr S.Y. Yip, sold in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 October 2015, lot 111.