Huanghuali folding horseshoe-back armchair

Auctioned by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong for HK$124.6 million

Receiving 60 bids in the space of a 15-minute bidding frenzy, this jiaoyi

(a Chinese term for ‘folding chair’) from the late Ming dynasty set a world auction record for a folding armchair made from huanghuali wood. Formerly part of the personal collection of Hong Kong businessman, art collector and philanthropist Sir Joseph Hotung, this is one of fewer than 30 folding horseshoeback armchairs known to exist from the Ming dynasty, with others existing mainly in museums. Such examples are prized not just for their highly celebrated Chinese carpentry designs, but also because portable chairs were more prone to damage and less likely to withstand the test of time.