This side chair was designed by April Shen in March 2010 and produced by the wood factory in China in June 2010. Dimensions: 18”w x 14.5”d x 37”h.

This chair was created for a client who had purchased an antique 17-18th century Chinese table as a dining table and wanted to have some matching chairs. She brought me a picture she had found on a magazine one day and asked if I could design something like it but with a Chinese flavor. It was a Denish chair. I sat down with her and quickly drew a picture of a chair. She liked it. So, I had these chairs produced in China and had them ship here afterwards. The original cream- white lacquer finish was chosen to match her décor at the time.

One can see from the back of the chair, the whole chair was hand- planked with a feature from the older traditional Chinese chairs where the the side rails of the back rest were continuing lines to form the legs. Outside of the aesthetics reason, the structure of this feature supports the additional durability for the use of the chair. The little “common mark” like shapes at the end of the side rails where they connect with the single- board seat were just a fun thing- they meant to be the variation of a commonly used stylized “dragon tail” motif one finds in some of the older Chinese woodwork, in order to distinguish the piece from a Denish make. It also matches the detail of the table she had purchased. The curved lines on the entire back rest except for the single splat back in between the two side rails derived from the line of a traditional Chinese horseshoe chair. The spandrel on the three sides underneath and connecting to the seat is also a feature used in most of the traditional Chinese chairs. This chair was originally produced for a taller person. It was also produced in light wood color, dark wood color, and light powder- blue lacquer. One appreciates the quality of a handmade wood work with its less formulated look in craftsmanship.

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