Tables | The specialists guide to Chinese antiques

Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

This particular image was taken from Ralphrepo’s photo stream on flicker and it apparently comes from a book called “The Face Of China As Seen By Photographers & Travelers 1860-1912.” He has a much longer and interesting commentary with a snip in which the furniture itself is mentioned. “Socially, the furniture belies a family of some affluence. The wooden foot stools at the time were used not for the height challenged but rather to provide insulation against having to put one’s feet onto a cold and unheated floor.”

Chinese Antique Wedding Bridal Sedan Chair 300x209 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

chinese sedan chair for weddings 225x300 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

This image of a Sedan Chair, is entitled “Bride On Her Way To Wedding, Fuzhou Fujian China” and was taken from Ralphrepo’s photo stream (if you are wondering about the basket, think “wedding veil”).

Chinese drop leaf or gateleg table 300x281 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

Antique chinese drop leaf or gateleg table2 300x240 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

This stereoview image also comes from Flickr, this time from Wolfgang Wiggers photostream. It was taken Guangzhou in the 1860′ies (more commonly known at that time as “canton”). Notice the gate leg or “drop-leaf” table seen in the center background

colonial shanghai era antique vanity 300x286 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

Colonial era shanghai hong mu vanity dreser 214x300 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

Another interesting image from Ralphrepo, in which a side view of a vanity can be seen. This particular image was also taken in Canton in 1868 by John Thomson.

colonial chinese sidetable shanghai style 300x220 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

antique colonial chinese sidetable shanghai style 225x300 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

From a German photographic album with photographs from the Tsingtau (Qingdao) area around 1900. This image also comes from Wolfgang Wiggers flickr page .

1282799036 4 300x252 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

antique chinese farm table wine table 300x228 Chinese furniture in B&W: historical perspectives from old china

A bit of a gruesome image, this photo was taken in the early 1900′s during the boxer rebellion. Nevertheless it it shows a very common long bench and farm table in a typical environment. This particular one has been modified to suite modern use by shortening the depth. The inset stone panel is not original.

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The real deal: Looking back a few hundred years at an authentic chinese alter table

This enormous solid wood console (over two meters) which probably dates back to the Ming Dynasty, originally made its home in a temple in Shanxi province before being stumbled upon by us in the far off, dusty dirty corners of the antiques trade. Known in Chinese as a “Gong An,” or roughly a”temple table” the name alludes to its former use and one can’t help but imagine monks keeping quarters with this table. Modestly estimated to be approximately 300 years old, there are several clues to look that allude to its age starting with the wood below the hardware worn to the bone from endless contact over the years.

Note: All images are clickable.

A common feature on many genuine antiques is defacement from the cultural revolution or “Wénhuà Dà Gémìng,” a period of great political and social turmoil in China’s recent history. From roughly 1966 to 1976 Mao Zedong launched a massive campaign to destroy the “four olds”, namely old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. During this time, Red Guards burned antique books, ransacked architecture, shattered old porcelain and destroyed or defaced carvings and even whole pieces of furniture. On the table below, the faces have been rudely hacked away.

The “chao tou” or wing-like swooping edges of the table are carved from a single large log with no visual seams or joints; a practice rarely used in contemporary times.

A second clue to its age and origin is the thin layer or coarse horse hair mesh, between the wood and the lacquer. Not quite refined enough to be considered fabric, this rough layer of hair allows the wood below some freedom to expand and contract according the climate and humidity without cracking the lacquer above.

And then there is the original finish, crackled beautifully through the endless passing of time.

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Restoring a Chinese mahjong table with a bit of pyrotechnics!

I get so backed up with blog posts, because there is so many interesting and fascinating things to see and talk about. And being detailed oriented, I really want to spend the time to talk about each item in detail, the history behind it, where it comes from and all the other details that make it all so interesting. Unfortunately work calls and so I must to sometimes, just simply be brief! With that said, here is an interesting photo I took in the factory a few days ago. This is a Chinese mahjong table which needed to have the top floating panel replaced due to cracking or some other form of damage. What makes this so interesting, is how they accomplish this.

In order to match the color of the original wood, the replacement panel must be lightened. To darken a piece there are several methods the most common one being a coat of stain or varnish. However, in this case the issue is the opposite: the wood here is too dark to match the base color of the original material. So how does one lighten the color of wood? By applying an alcohol based solution and some heat, the color of the wood will essentially lighten thus matching the color of the original color.

The end result would look something like this table sold by EMWA Furniture in Australia.

Furniture Repairs: Improper restoration causes this “Old Shanghai” table-top to buckle and split

(Click images to enlarge)

Question:

A reputable local beijing based antique Chinese furniture dealer sold us this nice Chinese table. It cracked a few months after getting it. He has his own shop to produce furniture as well as sell antiques. I am sending you 3 photos, 1 of each side of the table, and 1 of the whole thing. So there are really 2 large cracks in this poor beautiful old table. Can it be repaired rather than replace the top?

Answer:

Its hard to tell exactly from the photos (which are not so clear) but from what I can see, it looks like this is a colonial old Shanghai (also known as Lao Shanghai) art deco style table. The sides seem missing as normally this style of table has four “pointed” corner plates on the sides which when pulled up/opened (kind of like a drop leaf table) make the table square instead of hexagonal. Maybe they were missing when the item was collected in un-restored form, or maybe it was just too much trouble to replace/repair them. Who knows…

Also, again, its hard to tell from the photos but I think there are probably a number of portions of this piece which are completely new, though I cannot say at what percent without clearer photos. One of the legs “feels” new. I have seen the delicate tops buckle sometimes on un-restored colonial style tables over time, so it would not be surprising if it needed to be repaired during restoration and this is where the problem seems to have occurred. Repairs are normal for this sort of furniture and whats important is not the repair but rather how it was repaired.

Seems the issue with the cracked and split top, is that when the top was repaired, in a few places it seems that new wood replacement boards (glued together) were used, instead of using properly dried wood, old aged wood or reclaimed wood. In door environments, in particular where dry electric heat is used can accelerate this sort of cracking.

That’s probably why the cracking occurred as the wood was still moist and not fully dried. With old and/or reclaimed wood where the wood has had plenty of time to dry this is much less of a problem. The choice of wood used for this section can also have an effect as some woods are more prone to cracking (like pine) then others.

Another give away here is the actual edges on the new boards, as well as the patina itself, don’t match the rest of the delicate nature of the piece. Notice the thickness? There is also visible saw marks in the new boards. In fact, it might not even be the same species of wood. The grain seems much courser on the new boards.

It can be repaired, though the damaged board most likely should be replaced with something a bit more appropriate to the piece and following the recommendations above.