Folding side chairs are frequently seen in late Ming-dynasty woodcut prints and miniature amber- and green-glazed pottery models. The present pair retain faint traces of a landscape painting on each backsplat, and the brownish-black lacquer exhibits a finely crackled patina typical of chairs from the Shanxi region. A related lacquer folding chair with a tripartite splat supporting a curved crestrail is illustrated by C. Evarts in C. L. Ma Collection: Traditional Chinese Furniture from the Greater Shanxi Region, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 132, pl.42, where it is dated 16th-17th century. A black lacquered example with a pierced backsplat and more elaborate apron below the footrest, dated to the mid-Qing period, and in a private United States collection, is illustrated by Tian Jiaqing in Classic Chinese Furniture of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 100, pl. 32.