17TH-18TH CENTURY

Standard barrel-form stools have shaped aprons and conjoined scroll-work on the sides, and are most commonly constructed from hongmu with marble or burl-inset seats. The present pair is a rare variation on the standard form. Constructed in huanghuali and with a solid seat, the present pair has rare slatted sides and an elongated body. Wang Shixiang illustrates in Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture, Hong Kong, 1990, vol. II, pp. 30, pl. A37, a related zitan barrel-form stool also with a slatted body, where the author states that the design resembles window lattices or bird cages. A pair of very rare huanghuali barrel-form stools formerly from the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture sold at Christie’s New York, 22-23 September, 2022, lot 793.