A VERY RARE huanghuali “Wannian Taiping” yoke back armchair sold for a jaw-dropping $1.9 million at the recent Bonhams Asia Week New York sales, far surpassing the roughly $250,000 to $400,000 estimated auction house price tag.
The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) chair was part of the Mary and Cheney Cowles classical Chinese furniture collection and was one of the first pieces the Cowleses procured when their acquisitions of Asian furniture began more than 40 years ago.
Cheney Cowles, who opened Seattle’s Crane Gallery in 1975, and his wife, Mary, are well-known, respected Asian art collectors and donors. Most notably, in 2019, the couple announced a landmark gift of more than 550 Japanese paintings, calligraphic works, and ceramics to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, and…
