Chinese red acrylic yoke back armchair from Green T. House in Beijing
I was reading over at Beijing Notebook about these translucent acrylic Chinese horseshoe chairs she saw at the Green T. House in Beijing. With clean and classic Ming style lines, these round backed chairs are a very updated idea on an extremely old concept. Very neat idea – probably not particularly easy to manufacture.
Having spent so much time focusing on Chinese antiques, its refreshing to pull back a moment and look a contemporary twists on antique styles. And there is no better place then 1stdibs. And since I have had this post sitting in my “drafts” for quite a while, and suddenly wondered “why is this not published?” – well, no time like the present!
Assemblage in Chicago, has some interesting items on their 1stdibs page like this Vintage 1970′s Maitland Smith Gilt & Ivory Leather Asian-Form Coffee Table available here or this “Asian vibe” Lucite Scroll Form Coffee Table, one of my personal favorites.
Maitland Smith Gilt & Ivory Leather Asian-Form Coffee Table
Thick Lucite Scroll Form Coffee Table
A cerused Finish Chinese Altar Table – another updated modern take on this classic Asian form – this time in limed oak.
Cerused Finish Chinese Altar Table
Asian inspired Silver Leaf Asian Chairs
or this extremely cool asian inpired silver leaf coffee table available here.
Silver Leaf Asian Form Coffee Table
In addition to the silver leaf armchairs above there are several other interesting takes on Chinese chair designs like these Maitland Smith Chinese style arm chairs from Tom Gibbs Studio which almost look as if they were made from stone, or these exceptionally classy Asian Inspired Italian Brass Armchairs at Gaspare Asaro in New York.
I have had this photo of a “Pai Lou” (牌楼) which has been sitting on my hard drive for ages. I snapped the image of this particular one, a few years back while buying salvaged wooden architectural elements, which we would then restore and create matching stands for providing them with a second life. This particular one was from northern China, likely Shanxi or Shandong provinces. Due to Chinese export restrictions on certain types of antiques, its difficult to ship something like this abroad in its entirety, so I assume this one eventually found its way to a park, restaurant or maybe even a private home. But individual carvings are less of a problem and often find a new lease on life on someone’s mantle. On the image above, I have added some carvings we restored – can you see where each one might have originally fit into the completed puzzle?
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Unlike this one (above) which comes from Yunnan province in the far southwest. Notice the difference in style?
But I often find myself explaining to people what theses wood carvings were originally used for /where they came from. So when I came across these model images of the traditional method of joining these brackets and supports together, I reminded me to get these photos finally uploaded. Known in Chinese as “dǒugǒng” (斗拱), this unique structural system of interlocking wooden brackets places emphasis on supports rather then the walls themselves and has been in use in China for centuries.
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Who / Qui :
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Where / Ou :
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When / Quand :
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Susan Alberti
Roger Schwendeman
Mandarine Coco
Shanghai Trio
La Maison Taupe
Shanghai Trio
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606 Yonghe Villas,
22 Jianchang Lane off Guozijian Street,
near Lama Temple Beijing, China
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14 October @ 10am – 7pm
(open for late night shopping!) 15 October @ 10am – 4pm
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While trolling around on the net, I came across this very nice blog post from Posh Living which does a wonderful job of explaining what chinoiserie is which is. A main staple amoung designers, chinoiserie design elements in a room are timeless and sophisticated. Since we have talked in the past about how chinoiserie screens are made, their post is a nice addition providing some historical background and is well worth the read.
“What most people don’t realize about Chinoiserie is that the style doesn’t come from China at all. As trade spread around the globe and Europe’s economy matured, more people could afford decorative goods. To keep up with demand for more ornate works, artisans created designs that were pure fantasy. Reading descriptions of Chinese scenes, European designers created their own versions. Often they are whimsical and even silly, and that makes them even more appealing.
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“CHINOISERIE is a French word that means “in the Chinese taste”. It describes a European style of decorative ornament that was wildly popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and still looks great today.” |
Why Chinoiserie at all? Europeans’ fascination with the Far East began in Marco Polo’s day, in the thirteenth century. At a time when few people traveled the world, exotic goods such as silk fabrics, carpets and porcelain reached Europe via a trading route known as the Silk Road, which carried goods by cart and camel across the entire continent of Asia.
For wealthy Europeans, owning artifacts from the Far East was a status symbol. With these artifacts came stories from the traders of the amazing temples and pagodas they had seen and the strange costumes and appearance of the Oriental people. Cultures from Persia all the way to China were called “Oriental” by the Europeans. They made little effort to distinguish one people from another, and the fanciful designs of Chinoiserie often blend Chinese, Japanese and Persian or Indian elements.”
Have a read of the full post here to learn more:
http://poshsurfside.com/what-is-chinoiserie
and when finished, the wikipedia page on chinoiserie provides some additional background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinoiserie
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One of ACF’s local “inside suppliers” wishes to liquidate his existing stock of restored antique walnut furniture from Gansu at reduced prices, as he is now dealing only in un-restored antiques. As an “inside supplier” this restorer does not normally sell directly to overseas customers and instead local furniture factories buy from him to then resell in their own warehouse at a premium. As he is one of the few people who specializes primarily in walnut furniture from Gansu province (halfway between Beijing and Tibet), this is an very unusual and rare opportunity to see such a large volume of walnut pieces in one single location. Normally factories will only have a few such pieces (which they likely purchased from him).
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While not as costly as rosewood or Huali, walnut furniture is generally more expensive them Elm, Pine or Poplar and are generally sold at a higher premium. Availability has dropped and prices for walnut furniture have risen significantly over the past few years. Walnut is a much harder wood, more durable and longer lasting with a rich deep copper or caramel brown color with a nice grain and wonderful texture. Restorers also tend to use better brass hardware for walnut as the two colors compliment each other. Mostly from Western Gansu, styles are often understated, well balanced and elegant in their own right.
A few other things to know about this lot:
Larger photos of the complete lot can be seen online at this address:
http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=254
Or go to http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/gallery/
then navigate to
Customer Orders > General Sourcing > walnut 05-04-2010
For price list/additional details email me at roger at antique-chinese-furniture.com
The specialists guide to Chinese antiques is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache
