Small-leaf rosewood/Zambian rosewood scroll pattern waistband armchair

Small-leaf sandalwood/ Zambian bloodwood Small-leaf sandalwood cloisonné

This chair is identical in shape, workmanship, and style to the rosewood armchair with scrolling grass pattern included in "Appreciation of Ming Furniture" and "Ming and Qing Furniture, Volume 1".

See: Wang Shixiang, Appreciation of Ming Furniture, Figure 56, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2003, page 102.
Zhu Jiajin (ed.), Ming and Qing Furniture (Vol. 1), Plate 23, in the Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Shanghai Science and Technology Press and Commercial Press (Hong Kong), 2002, p. 37.
Edited by the Palace Museum, *Complete Collection of Ming and Qing Furniture in the Palace Museum: Chairs*, Palace Museum Press, 2015, p. 50.

The cover of Wang Shixiang's "Appreciation of Ming-style Furniture" features a Qing dynasty rosewood armchair with a waist and footrest of the same design, formerly in the collection of the Palace Museum. Wang Shixiang judged that the "four pieces in one set" should be "furniture specially made for the court in the early 18th century" and "is an important piece of furniture with exquisite craftsmanship and materials and is representative of the court."
Firstly, the form of this round-backed chair is the same as that of the round-backed chair in the collection of the Palace Museum: the backrest is made of mortise and tenon joints, with the upper section carved with openwork floral patterns, a variation of the scroll pattern; the middle section is plain; and the lower section has cloud-patterned legs. At the junction of the backrest, the armrest, and the seat, four large openwork corner braces are used, enhancing the decorative effect when viewed from the front. The extended armrests and the section above the hoof-shaped feet are exquisitely carved with scroll patterns.