Made during Emperor Qianlong’s reign of the Qing Dynasty, this mottled bamboo chair is coated with black lacquer and the back is embellished with painted chrysanthemum and butterfly motifs in gold. The chair is 101 centimeters in height, 48 centimeters in length and 39 centimeters in width. The top rail, posts, leg bars and bottoms braces are all made of mottled bamboo, except for the back and surface that are made of wood and coated in black lacquer.   

The middle of the back is painted with an auspicious motif in gold, followed by a round and hollowed-out Chinese character “shou” (meaning “longevity”) and chrysanthemum and butterfly motifs in gold. The black lacquered surface of the chair has no motifs, with spandrel-like structures below. There are four straight legs, with base stretchers at the bottom.

The chair is simple and elegant in structure, with bamboo components and black lacquered parts contrasting nicely with each other. It is a typical piece of the mid-Qing Dynasty furniture, which used to be collected in the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty.