'King'
Chair
Designed by Shao Fan
Beijing, China 
1996
MDF, Catalpa and elm
Museum No. FE 327-2005
Gift of Ms Pearl Lam

The design for this chair has been based on a traditional round chair ('yuan yi'), which is usually associated with high status, reflected also by the position the chair takes in the household.

In the Ming period, the union of the arms with the back of the chair in one smooth, continuous curvature (seen in the example, FE. 72-1938, below) was a design innovation which simplified the building process.

Here, Shao Fan has added his own innovation, widening the round chair with the addition of new parts, and giving it the shape of a throne, making it an even more imposing figure.