Pair of Roundback Armchairs: Lohan Type

1600–1700s

Pair of Roundback Armchairs: Lohan Type, 1600–1700s. China, Ming dynasty (1368-1644) or Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Rosewood (huanghuali); overall: 85.4 x 58.4 cm (33 5/8 x 23 in.); chair: 86 x 63.5 x 47 cm (33 7/8 x 25 x 18 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection 1955.40 Following the tradition of sitting cross-legged on an elevated platform, these armchairs allow the sitter to rest their feet on the stretcher between the front legs, or to pull their legs up resting their shoes on the stretcher. The existence of such chairs in pairs suggests that they were used in more formal settings reserved for important guests and family members of age and high status. Similar chairs with low, straight backs were presumably used by women or in a less formal context. The horseshoe-shaped backs of these chairs are made of seven pieces of wood joined without glue or nails and secured with an inserted wooden pin that holds them in place.