Chinese audience chair in the Ming Dynasty taste. The chair is made from Northern Chinese Elm with traces of original black lacquer throughout. The chair has a frame and panel seat with turned back rails which resolve into a splayed and yoke carved crest rail. The frame and panel central splat is morticed to the back seat rail with a pierced carved rectangular element, and the seat is mounted on the sides and back with a bracketed apron. The front legs, under the seat, has a hump back rail with two vertical carved elements morticed into the seat. The turned legs are joined by a boxed stretcher with the thicker front stretcher functioning as a foot rest. China, mid-1800’s.