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These chairs are unusual for their larger than usual proportions.
The stylish 'Horseshoe' shape design back is derived from the centuries’ old tradition of ingenious joinery. Originally devised through the utilisation of pliable lengths of bamboo, bent into a 'U'-shape and bound together by natural fibres to achieve a lightweight, sturdy and strong chair. Bamboo grew fast and was in plentiful in China. It also was powerfully evocative to urban dwellers in China of a simpler, rural life.
Over time, this popular design was interpreted in wood. The cabinetmaker had to either bend the wood to make the curved crest-rail, which was not possible with dense tropical hardwoods, or construct it of lighter, less durable woods that did bend. Desiring to use beautiful tropical hardwoods, cabinet makers found a solution in an ingenious joinery technique that applied an equal amount of pressure to two sides of two interlocking slightly curved elements. The two pieces fit together with a cut-out to accommodate a tapered wood pin that when inserted put pressure on the two pieces, locking them firmly in place. When lacquered, the underlying joinery was not visible and virtually impossible to wrest apart. For chairs made of huanghuali, zitan, or other hardwoods, the beauty of the wood grain enhanced the appeal, and the sections were reinforced by hot animal glues.
