A huanghuali comb-back chair

Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty
The chair of elegant form with arched humpback top-rail supported on round posts extending to the back legs flanking eight spindles, with a matching series of five spindles on either side bracing the rectangular arms, all supported on square legs, the feet joined by stretchers and a shaped foot-rail with a narrow apron.
90.2cm (35 1/2in) high x 53.3cm (21in) wide x 42cm (16 1/2in) deep

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The elegant form of the present lot, characterised by a sequence of spindles forming the back and handles of the chair, is a typical feature of a style which appears to have originated in the Jiangnan region, South China, during the later period of the Qing dynasty.

Compare a related hongmu comb-back chair, 18th century, of very similar design constructed with arched toprail and multiple spindles forming the back and arms, in the Edward E. Sox Collection, illustrated by R.H.Ellsworth, Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu, 1982, p.77, pl.61.