17th century|Each composed with a shaped headrest supported by the solid-panel S-shaped backsplat, the sinuous protruding arms supported by S-shaped side posts and goose-neck front posts, the rectangular seat frame enclosing a hard woven mat and supported on circular legs joined by a curved apron above stepped stretchers and a foot rail, the wood patinated to a rich reddish tone. Each 118.2cm (46 1/2in) high x 58cm (22 6/8in) wide x 50cm (19 6/8in) deep. (2).|十七世紀 黃花梨四出官帽椅 一對Provenance: a British private collection 來源： 英國私人收藏The 'four corners-exposed' form 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 Sothern and Northern dynasties, which have seen further evolvements through 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 represent one of the most sculptural forms of Chinese furniture from the late Ming period. The graceful and sinuous shaping of the frame members resonate with dynamism and elegance, and the vigorously shaped top rails resemble the protruding wings of the hats worn by Ming officials, hence known as 'officials' 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, from the John W. Gruber collection, is illustrated in 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 in R.H.Ellsworth, Chinese Hardwood Furniture in Hawaiian Collections, Honolulu,1981, no.10; and compare another closely related armchair with four protruding ends and cloud motif on splat and tendril on apron, Ming dynasty, from the Wang Shixiang collecton, illustrated in Wang Shixiang, Classic Chinese Furniture – Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Bankok, 1986, pl.46; see also a further similar example, in the collection of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, Beijing, illustrated in Chen Zengbi, Zhongyang Gongyi Meishu Xueyuan Yuancang: Zhenpin Tulu [Central Academy of Arts and Crafts: Illustrations of collections], vol.2: Mingshi Jiaju [Ming Furniture], Hong Kong, 1994, p.23.A similar single huanghuali high 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 a pair of huanghuali yoekback armchairs, 17th century, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 11-12 September 2012, lot 218.