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.
Any furniture retailer will tell you that, many times the “end all be all” for retail buyers will be just how the item integrates into their home space. Sure, comfort, durability and quality are all top consumer preferences but overall dimensions, depth and height along with usability all have a lot to do with furniture-buying preferences as well. According to High Point Market industry reports, “Foremost, you must understand that the typical furniture buyer is a she, not a he.” Which means “she” is probably not going to spend time attempting to fit a round peg into a square hole (Unlike “he” who will either just hammer it in, or pull out the tools and change the dimensions of the hole).
Sometimes though even the most experienced sales people need some extra help. So what better place the photo sharing site Flickr to see just how real people are integrating items into their homes then on. Unlike glossy magazines like Better Homes and Gardens or ELLE DECOR these homes are real.
There is a article by Jim Green in the furniture industry publication Furniture Today entitled “Knowing Too Much” which touches briefly on this subject.
” A nightstand is a small piece of furniture, with or without doors and drawers, normally placed beside the head of a bed. It provides a surface to set a lamp or place a glass of water, a book, or pair of reading glasses. BUT…a nightstand might not be a nightstand at all. It may, in fact, be a chairside commode. It also may be a telephone table or a stand for a small 20” TV set.
A while back in our post “Are Asian design influences here to stay?” we were discussing the longevity and staying power of Asian Design Influences and Asian Decorating Style. I must say, that when poking around in the interior designer blog community this really seems to be the case. Asian style furniture is really here to stay and as the world continues to become a melting pot due to the internet and global travel I think this will become even more so. Today I stumbled upon another excellent Interior Design Blog by Los Angeles-based celebrity designer, Mark Cutler who has a good post on the “ Asian-inspired” look. Some of the looks are difficult unless you are on the west coast or in say, New York but nevertheless its great stuff.
There is a great little blog apartmenttherapy.com which covers New York, San Francisco, Chicago & New York. Its really less of a blog, and rather more of a series of columns written and posted by interior designers.
We love the look of antiques or imports mixed with more modern furniture. One piece that almost always fits right into a modern setting is the Chinese console table. Originally used as altar tables in homes and temples, their proportions make them the perfect console. Styles vary widely, from plain and simple to extremely ornate. We like to see one beautifully carved elaborate piece in a minimalist home, or you could go the other direction and keep it simple with a spare wooden console.
Definitely worth taking a look at to see what the popular looks are at any given moment. By the way, the searches and content vary depending on each city – great to see the differences in say Chicago vs New York. Anyways, I did a search on Chinese to see what comes up. Here is a sampling of what people seem to be interested in this year:
Chinese Console Tables 2007 year end round-up
Chinese Table with 3 Drawers, at Golden Triangle
Vintage Cabinet from Jayson Home & Garden, $1,395
Landfair Furniture has an interesting blog which seems to cater specifically to topics of interest to interior designers. As interior designers tend to drive the market I would assume looking to them for clues as to whats “up and coming” would be a good idea. Which is why I think its interesting they have an article discussing a long-standing trend towards oriental as one of the five primary design styles employed by interior designers:
“In the world of design, Asian or Oriental style has long cast a spell over the Western world with its air of elegant exoticism and mystery. Always in fashion, this design tour de force sometimes wanes in the interior scene, only to spike in popularity yet again as the season’s newest trend. Whatever the current status, this centuries-old theme continues to captivate in settings from classic to contemporary.”
The article then goes on to highlight and illustrate (with specific time frames and examples) the dynamic yet, steady stream of dips and peaks in the popularity of oriental looks. And though at times, while this look appears to drops off it seems its only temporary and always reemerges shortly after in fresh new variations. A good brief article, well worth the quick read. And if correct, a solid affirmation for anyone carrying Asian furniture and accessories in their store.
The full post is here.
The specialists guide to Chinese antiques is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache