The specialist guide to Antique Chinese Furniture Antiker Chinesischer Möbel muebles chinos antiguos mobilia cinese antica

Last week we went to an exhibition of new classic Chinese furniture. There were not only factories of furniture, but also those selling frightening robot-like CNC machines… It made me wonder if hand labor is even in threat of becoming abundant even here, even in this workmanship, even in art …

[Read more →]

I am by far not an expert and to be honest, my main advantage is simply having the opportunity to see, touch & feel different restored, un-restored pieces on regular basis. When the factory is literally right behind you and you can hang out with the workers and see the entire process, one can […]

[Read more →]

 Another type of cracked lacquer does not require the use of sheets of fabric.  First a layer of “nizi” - a kind of adhesive, is spread evenly over the surface of the furniture,  preferably brushing on a thicker coat of “nizi” rather then a thin one.  The adhesive is then left to air dry for a short period […]

[Read more →]

A large sheet of fabric (often a course, light cotton) is laid out on top of a flat even surface such as a large sheet of plywood or a tabletop. A even coating of “Nizi” - a kind of adhesive, is spread evenly over the surface of the material. The adhesive is then let […]

[Read more →]

Determing whats antique and whats reproduction is getting harder and harder. Sometimes this is a deliberate attempt to pass off a reproduction as antique with the idea that customer would be willing to pay more for the antique. But other times, the line between whats antique and whats reproduction is simply just blurry. In the […]

[Read more →]

 Chinese workers love to use the phrase ¨cha bu duo¨ (pronounced “Cha Boo Daul) which directly translates to ¨not very far off  (meaning approximately or roughly)¨ Unfortunately, in almost all case it usually works out to be not even close,  in otherwords,  ”cha tai duo”  (meaning way too far off).   Workers see no need for exact […]

[Read more →]