HAR-14 (早清或明黃花梨木四平軟座方櫈) This beautiful antique Ming style square stool is made of supreme cuts of Hunaghuali hardwood. It is constructed in a varied Si-Mian-Ping (四面平, Four-Sided Flat) style and joinery with the top frame slightly hanging out over the legs. There is no additional spandrel in between the legs underneath the top frame. What looks like a spandrel is actually part of the bottom frame (under the top frame) that consists of four vertical legs and the four horizontal Ya-Tiao ( 牙條) right underneath the top frame, and the horizontal supports under the Ya-Tiao and in between the four legs. In other words, this stool is made of two frames, the top and the bottom, joined together with special and complex joinery inside. This type of joinery is very secure and often will not need any glue, and can be taken apart and re-joined together. According to Mr. Wang-Shi-Xiang (王世襄先生) 's book 明式家具研究 (Here translated as “The Research of Ming Style Furniture), although furniture pieces with “Four-Sided Flat” design had still been made during the Qing Dynasty, this particular way of joining the top frame with the bottom frame of the Si-Mian-Ping style differs from those made in the Qing Dynasty though with the similar look.
This stool is created with the generous use of the precious Huanghuali wood. One can see from the outside that the vertical height (from the top to the bottom) of the horizontal parts of Ya-Tiao and the top frame are substantial proportionally, which created a very sturdy stool both in its functionality and its look. Also, if this stool were to be a table that is larger in size, it would probably have been constructed without the additional horizontal supports in between the legs as the inside joinery would have been secure enough if it was well made. However, giving that this is a stool and is used for taking the body weight, it is understandable that the horizontal supports were added to further secure the legs.
This stool originally would have been created in pair. The top rattan with the thin frame that holds the rattan had been replaced. This stool is possibly from the 17th century. The wood grain and the old patina of this stool are superb.

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