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.

Sometimes, one needs a break from antiques

While admittedly cool, I think these polished stainless steel Chinese officials hat chairs from Chine Gallery are equally as funky. Known in Chinese as Guān mào yǐ (官帽椅) the name likely comes from the sculpted back which resembles a winged official’s hat.

An extremly designer-esque stainless steel officials hat chair from Chine Gallery

And with first hand-experience, I can tell you these yoke back chairs are also not very easy to make! (trust me  I have done QC on them and a lot of hand crafting goes into each and every single one. No mass made here thank you very much! Same with these sleek stainless steel  Chinese low back arm chairs known in Chinese as a “Fúshǒu yǐ” (扶手椅).

A very modern set of Chinese low back arm chairs in stainless steel.

Reminds me a bit of last years Dynasty Revival exhibit at Lane Crawford. For more interesting contemporary takes on Chinese furniture by contemporary designers try the book  Inspired by China: Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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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.

Maitland Smith Chinese style arm chairs

Pair of Asian Inspired Italian Brass Armchairs

Another classic Maitland Smith design at Harris Kratz in the form of a Fossil Stone and Bronze Console table. Very vintage – very interesting.

Asian design Fossil Stone and Bronze Console Table

McGuire Furniture‘s Ming Alter Table is not really a reinvention though nevertheless deserves a place here, as do the designs Chinese American furniture designer Robert Kuo.

McGuire Furniture Ming Alter Table

Robert Kuo Altar Table

Who else am I missing….?

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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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.

The images of the wooden construction model below come from the Chinese History forum (which of course is a re-post from elsewhere). I have taken a few of them and combined them side by side with some real world examples. Fascinating how it all fits together in a splendid three dimensional puzzle of both form and function.

Some of these are double sided and sometimes retain traces of their original colors which one would hopefully want to preserve when restoring the carving.

The full set of images of a miniature model showing how a more complex version of the system works – this particular type can be easily found by looking at any larger well known structures in China like halls and temples.

For those out there assuming you can just take any old architectural elements and have a stand made for it, I offer a word of warning: each and every element is different and thus each stand or frame must be made to match and compliment the original style of the carving itself. Easier said then done and if the proportions are off the whole piece will feel clumsy and awkward.

Some before and after shots of reclaimed carvings mounted on stands…

If you want to dig in a bit more into the history of the architecture itself there are quite a number of decent books on the subject. A few suggested ones:

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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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.

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

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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

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).

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:

• ALL these pieces are antique (there are no vintage or reproduction pieces in this batch).
• Quality is quite good and all pieces are restored and ready to ship.
• With a very few exceptions 90% of the pieces are walnut and from Gansu.
• Not all items are pictured here (there is at least a 40 foot container).
• He also has a few rare items that are not seen very often.
• Sizes and proportions are very practical and usable.
• The flash on the camera tends to give everything more contrast and more yellow (note this).

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

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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We have a fair amount of Tibetan painted furniture, though most of it is not genuine Tibetan antique furniture (despite what many claim). Most are either new or vintage, though we do sometimes find real antiques. In general, it tends to be a bit too bright and colorful for my tastes, though nevertheless, Tibetan furniture does have its place and if the designs and motifs are subtle, they make beautiful accent pieces.

A while back we had a few old door panels which went out in a container, and surprise surprise, I stumbled upon our doors, modified into dining tables and coffee tables on the website of J.W Kinsey’s Woodcraft (Cabinetry/custom furniture makers) in Modesto California. Looks like Josh Kinsey did a pretty nice job of both preserving the original items and turning them into something more functional in the home.

He did a nice job of solving the issue of how to mount the door on the frame without modifying it (notice the strut across the bottom of the door) . The table bases seem to work.

The rest of the photos are on their site at:

http://jwkinseyswoodcraft.com/jwkinseys%20woodcraft/projects%20portfolio/Portfolio.html

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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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.

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

By the way, for a fascinating look at how some of the lanterns are made have a read of

Big Uncle, The Lantern Maker.

This content comes from The specialists guide to Chinese antiques located at http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/ For more articles please visit The specialists guide to Chinese antiques - A unique insiders peek at the world of Chinese antiques & reproductions, Asian culture, exotic decor and oriental-inspired design from the far east.

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