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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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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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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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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 The hand rubber, distressed finish sky blue hutch adds some pleasantness to the room and may even pass as French Provincial, as does the lemon flavored traditional Chinese stool with a worn down finish for that “clean but aged look.”

Lacquer colors like Popsicle, Cherry Candy, Green Apple and Salty Licorice bring more to mind then just plain old furniture.

French country – Chinese country – whatever it is, its pretty cool. These pieces were on their way to new homes.

Even darker browns and “plain ol” black and white take on a new life with a bit of hand rubbing to add character.

 The effect shows just nicely on this unusually shaped Chinese bookcase.

So? Why not brighten up your own rooms?

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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Limed finishes as sometimes also called Cerused or “pickled finishes” and vary depending on the nature of the underlying materials. Reclaimed wood will generally produced a more rustic and “aged look,” whereas new materials will feel a bit neater – even if deliberately antiqued. A look at two sample below illustrates the differences seen in materials. Both have been given a limed finished.

The first board is reclaimed material. The second is new but “antiqued” to look more aged. The difference is even more pronounced when viewing whole pieces. A recent factory visit turned up these two examples. The first is a rustic farm table from ACF China and is constructed using salvaged materials. The second is a rattan chest on a stand from Four Hands and is from new materials. Both have pickled finishes.

Basic materials needed are usually just lime, wax and often some wood stain depending on the desired final color. The process (in brief) tends to be as follows:

1. In order to enhance the effect, the grain of the wood is exposed sometimes with a wire brush.
2. The surface is then dusted clean and color then applied is desired.
3. After any applied color is thoroughly dry, a coat of lime and wax is also applied and hand rubbed into the grain of the wood.
4. After the lime and wax is dried, any excess is removed and a final top layer of wax is applied.

For a more detailed overview of the process have a look at this page.

Its also worthy to note that limed and bleached finishes are a different then finishing effects achieved using lacquer like this antique sideboard which has a faux limed finish, achieved with white lacquer hand-rubbed into the grain of the wood.

Who is selling whitewashed furniture?
Lets look at a few nice examples.

Warrenton Tea Table from tomlinsonerwinlambeth

Low coffee table constructed from old doors from ACF China

Contemporary entertainment console from bungalowclassic.com.

Better examples? Comment them!

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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Reclaimed & salvaged materials are environmentally friendly in that there are no new trees cut down to make the piece. Sources of wood may be old railroad ties, beams from old houses that have been demolished or even old doors. Old elm tends to be a favorite as Elm in fairly common in China. Pine is also an option as well. Other woods are also used like cypress, walnut or beech though these woods are much less common and not available in large quantities.

Since the material has been aged it tends to be more stable then new wood (which must otherwise be kiln dried and chemically treated before it can be made to be stable). In essence, pieces created from salvaged materials are antique in a very unusual way – as the materials themselves have their own story, rather then the finished piece. Finishes are less of an issue to as rather then spend time carefully creating the right distressed finish, the focus is on the already distressed natural appearance of the wood. Construction is typically using the traditional methods of tongue/groove and Chinese joinery.Reclaimed wood furniture tends to fall within either one of following three classifications:

1. Antique / Vintage: Often these are antique farm items which have simply been given a clean up. In other cases they have been stripped down and their original finish removed. Often traces of the original finish & color remain giving each piece its own unique “hue.”
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2. Salvaged & Rebuilt: Old doors converted into tables tops with bases added are a good example of this. The prime element here is that a good portion of the piece is in fact antique and can be distinguished as so.
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3. New designs from old materials: These are basically new pieces built with primarily reclaimed materials and its for this reason that the line between salvaged and new can become a bit blurry. The dining table below from ACF China Co as well as the “Haider Natural” Dining Furniture from Horchow Collection & Four Hands are good example of this. The design on the Horchow table has clearly been updated for the western buyer as the bottom stretcher would not an original feature on a Chinese type of table.
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So, where is it reclaimed wood furniture being sold on the web? What are the popular looks?

Here are a few nicer examples:

“Haider Natural” Dining Furniture from Horchow Collection & Four Hands

Reclaimed Elm Table from Neiman Marcus.

Blue Wash Console Table from Wisteria

Reclaimed Elm Doorwood Coffee Table

From the The Olde Good Things Webstore. Looks so similar I wonder if it originally came from us?!

RECLAIMED WOOD FURNITURE from GreenTea Designs

Other nice pieces of reclaimed wood furniture out there?

Share them with us! Send them in or post the links here…

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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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)

Antique/Vintage

• The ACF China stools (see pictures below) fall into this category. These tend to show some minor wear and tear. They are often heavier well as a bit more ornate with more attention to detail. Its not uncommon for them to have a bit of a washed out quality to them. Obviously these are the more expensive of the three kinds.
  

  

Hand made

• The deep Jade Green Openwork Square Garden Stools at Gumps are good examples of this. Ornate, attractive and with their own texture. You can almost imagining them “aging into vintage” in a few years. Moderately priced, these stools will not be mistaken for Target bargains. Also over at one of our favorite design sites apartmenttherapy.com they are talking about Using Chinese Elements: Wisteria Living.
  

  

Mass produced

• Style court’s colorful Juicy Decor fall into this category. Less expensive then Vintage or hand-made, thats not to say they do not make excellent additions to any space as Turquoise Chic points out about the ones she saw at the Mondrian Scottsdale . I love the manner in which Style court, describes her local shops as selling “Ceramic garden stools, above, come in luscious mouth-watering colors. “Juicy Decor,” she calls it…

Then there is coco cozy’s rundown on garden stools as well as anther great rundown on Apartment Therapy. So the next question is, where can you buy them? Here’s a brief rundown:

If you are importer, shop, wholesaler or retailer:

• ACF China of course!

If you are an individual buyer looking for your home:

• At present they are selling at quite a number of stores both online and off, including Mecox Gardens with their Lime Green Ceramic Garden Stools, Turquoise Stool, and Teal Side Table.

• Gumps is selling Jade Green Openwork Square Garden Stools (which we carry also). They have Black Garden Stools as well. If you want to try some of these out,in fact they come in a rage of colors with silver, gold and white also being quite popular at the moment.

• Red River Trading Co has some nice green ones also.

  

• William Sonoma Home - Decorative Porcelain Garden Seat (thanks to coco cozy)
  

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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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