17TH CENTURY

The form of the present pair of stools suits them well to a variety of settings, due to their simple, yet sturdy shape, and examples exist with both soft and hard mat seats, with and without stretchers, and with and without carved surfaces. Several examples of similar huanghuali stools dated to the 17th century are known, including a pair in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, illustrated by Robert D. Jacobsen and Nicholas Grindley in Classical Chinese Furniture, Minneapolis, 1999, pp. 38-9, no. 2. Another rectangular huanghuali stool dated to the Ming dynasty, from the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, is illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Classic Chinese Furniture: Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 61, no. 15.