The specialists guide to Chinese antiques.

During a recent buying excursion, I stumbled across these beautiful lacquered / painted armoires, from Shanxi province in Northern China.  While not nearly as prized by Chinese buyers, who often prefer hardwoods like Hua li or Hong mu, the status of Shanxi painted furniture has nevertheless risen significantly over the years for its beauty and [...]

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This enormous solid wood console (over two meters) which probably dates back to the Ming Dynasty, originally made its home in a temple in Shanxi province before being stumbled upon by us in the far off, dusty dirty corners of the antiques trade. Known in Chinese as a “Gong An,” or roughly a”temple table” the [...]

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I get so backed up with blog posts, because there is so many interesting and fascinating things to see and talk about. And being detailed oriented, I really want to spend the time to talk about each item in detail, the history behind it, where it comes from and all the other details that make [...]

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We carry two main brands of wax polish for furniture. Both are hard wax polishes.

Golden Rooster is domestic brand which seems to be partnered with Kiwi. While this works fine, there is chemical smell to the wax which I personally find undesirable. It relatively inexpensive.
Harrell’s Traditional Wax Furniture Polish contains beeswax and is a bit [...]

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In this recent gloomy economic climate, it would be nice to add a bit of color and I though sharing some of the neat distressed finishes we have been working on, might brighten up the days a bit.

 The hand rubber, distressed finish sky blue hutch adds some pleasantness to the room and may even pass [...]

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Recently we discussed the popularity of furniture constructed from salvaged materials like this reclaimed elm wood dining table and therefore it should be no surprise that the according to House Beautiful, the whitewashed look along with lightened wood, bleached finishes and limed finishes are growing just as much in popularity as well whether in Asian [...]

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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.

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 [...]

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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 [...]

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Here is some great collection of articles I found on wood finish supply.com’s website about lacquers & wood finishing. Its quite technical and really intended for woodworkers and the like but if thats you, then this is a good resource.
Here is a sample of some of the articals:

The Atanomy of A Wood Finish
These 3 basic [...]

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 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 [...]

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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 [...]

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