Carved wooden architectural elements salvaged from traditional Chinese homes gain a new lease on life…

Chinese decorative architectural carvings 300x160 Carved wooden architectural elements salvaged from traditional Chinese homes gain a new lease on life...
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?

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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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Hot Seller: Chinese paper and silk wire lanterns

chinese lantern with paper.thumbnail Hot Seller: Chinese paper and silk wire lanterns

Chinese wire lanterns seem to do well. In checking over our web analytics, I noticed we get quite a lot of hits for wire lanterns. Regular incoming request and price checks for them, confirm this is indeed the case. Whats not to like about them? They are cute, colorful, inexpensive and in addition to being functional, they make great impulse buys for any shop.

There also seems to be demand for them (hint hint retailers) as is evident by this blog post, as well as this one.

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Graham and Green does a very nice job in displaying these wire lanterns

The larger ones  range from 60 to 80 centimeters high while the smaller ones are as small as just 20 cm high.

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Hot Seller: Porcelain Garden Stools, everyone loves them!

garden stool from gumps.thumbnail Hot Seller: Porcelain Garden Stools, everyone loves them!

Porcelain garden stools continue to remain extremely popular. They seem to add a nice touch to either the living room or the garden which makes them quite versatile. And there is quite a lot of variety in styles. Which may explain why they are selling so well out on the web. They were even featured in Elle Decor. There is also quite a lot of buzz on the design blogs on this topic as well including one amusing post entitled Are we over garden stools ? on a witty blog which describes itself as porn for decor addicts (love it!). On commenter on the post has the following to say about garden stools:

Garden stools are like bentwood dining chairs, Oriental rugs, tansu chests, club chairs, those plain swing-arm lamps Billy Baldwin loved, and large mirrors over fireplaces. They can be abused, and they can go through phases of being overly much in one’s face — but they’re never truly OUT.

A common question amongst buyers is how to distinguish between the various offerings out there on different websites. Stools break down into three categories:

  •  Antique/Vintage
  • Hand made (new)
  • Mass produced (New)

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Hot Seller: Chinese Calligraphy Brushes

green 500.thumbnail Hot Seller: Chinese Calligraphy Brushes

 Chinese horse hair calligraphy brushes seem to be a hot seller recently. Actually, they have been doing well for quite some time now. We get quite a number of requests for them, particularly from smaller shops, boutiques and designers. They make great accessory items which fit with a range of decorating styles – and depending on how they are displayed, can be seen either as “exotic,” “world traveler,” or simply “oriental.” They are small enough to ship express and inexpensive enough to be impulse buys (while thinking about larger purchases). Whats not to like about them? They come in a range of materials from carved green jade, carved stone, pearl, bone handle, bamboo, glass beads or Cloisonne.

Sidenote: Have a quick look at this video of Chinese water graffiti which I found on Reuben Miller’s blog. Pretty cool actually and yes, some of the larger brushes do get used for this in fact. Every time I go to Jing Shan park in Beijing there is always someone doing this.

Like these brushes? Head over to our Home decor reference catalog for wholesalers to get some for yourself.

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A true work of art – The making of a Chinese lacquered room divider/chinoiserie screen

Chinoiserie screens are always a favorite with interior designers and today, we give you a detailed glimpse into the workshop of an artist craftsmen and let you see the many steps required to create a perfect lacquer painting.

2243528513 7a5a05205d A true work of art   The making of a Chinese lacquered room divider/chinoiserie screen

Note: The large versions of these photos are online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acf-china/2243528705/

The art of lacquer painting is a ancient one, originating in China thousands of  years ago.  In the Neolithic age (about 7,000 years ago), while cutting down trees, the precursors to Chinese people realized that the sap of the lacquer trees could be applied to walls, furniture and other objects, thus giving birth to primitive lacquer art. Painting with lacquer is a meticulous and time-consuming process which most people fail to realize or appreciate. It is a very meticulous labor of love to create a lacquer painting and the process can take at least several weeks or in the case of a series of panels, more then several months to complete. Lacquer paintings & screen panels are traditionally created in three styles which correlate to the color of the paintings background:

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The specialists guide to Chinese antiques is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache