The chairs in the Ming-style furniture chairs and stools refer to the seats with backrests, except for the extra-large shape, luxurious carvings, and the "throne" that has become a noble single seat. According to its shape, it can be roughly divided into four types: namely: back chair, armchair, circle chair, and cross chair. Let's talk about the chair first.
The so-called backrest chair refers to all chairs with backrests and no armrests. The backrest consists of a "brain", two vertical timbers on both sides and a centered backrest panel. Further distinguish, according to whether the two ends of the brain are out, it is divided into "lamp-hung chairs" and "unified monuments", and among them, the mullions are used as backrests, and the special name is "wooden comb back chair".
The lamp-hung chair is a chair style with a long history, which has appeared in the Five Dynasties period, and there is this kind of chair in Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai's Night Banquet Picture", which was more common in the Song Dynasty. The origin of "lamp hanging chair" has to start from "lamp hanging", that is, the bamboo seat bracket used to hang oil lamps in ancient times, which can be hung on the stove wall, which used to be a necessary thing for every family, the seat of the lamp hanging is flat and the beam is high, and the shape of the back chair is similar to it, that is, the name of "lamp hanging chair". In the Ming Dynasty, lamp-hung chairs often added tower chair drapeds, and the towering backs of the chairs could highlight the gorgeous splendor, even if they did not add a chair draped, revealing natural textures or carved back panels, which were also very attractive. In particular, its outline is particularly beautiful, and in terms of its practicality, because there are no armrests, it feels barrier-free when sitting. So it's understandable why the lamp-hung chair became one of the most popular chair styles in ancient times.
In recent years, the furniture in European, American and Japanese restaurants has absorbed this form, mainly because it is small in size and light and applicable. It is worth mentioning a relatively large lamp hanging chair, among the four pins, the front one is the lowest, the two on both sides are second, and the last one is the highest. This also shows that the ancient times were very particular about the design of furniture.
The main feature of the "unification tablet chair", it began in the Ming Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty, its main feature is that the back of the chair and the chair surface are at a right angle, the back of the chair and the hind legs and feet are integrated, the two ends of the brain do not come out, and the upper and lower widths are consistent, the back is rectangular and straight and straight, shaped like the ancient stele, so it is called the "unification tablet chair", referred to as the unified chair, the south is also commonly known as the single chair, and the slender back is commonly known as the high backrest.
In 1980, through field investigation, the author not only clarified the ** of each name, but also confirmed that these chairs and names were transmitted from the south to the north, and another circumstantial evidence that the Suzhou area is the main production area of Ming-style furniture.
Well, let's talk about the topic of the backrest chair today, thank you**, see you in the next issue!