ACF China in the New York Times/Herald Tribune

Pretty neat. If anyone can pick up a copy for me it would be much appreciated as I have yet to see in print.

Reactionaries? Make That ‘Collectors’

By DAN LEVIN Published: February 3, 2010
Original article online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/garden/04chinese.html

04chinesespan 1 articleLarge 300x165 ACF China in the New York Times/Herald Tribune

TREASURE HUNT A worker at the ACF China furniture factory with a refurbished trunk.

CONTESTANT No. 3, a portly man in suspenders named Cui Xiaosong, clutched a golden mallet and gulped like an executioner having second thoughts. As a guest on China’s wildly popular antiques reality show “Collection World,” Mr. Cui knew he might have to get violent before the next commercial break. The victim? A delicately painted vase he had brought to the show, which he believed to be from the Qing dynasty and worth about $30,000.

“If it’s a fake, will you smash it?” asked the program’s white-gloved host, Wang Gang, as Mr. Cui faced the studio audience and three guest judges.

Mr. Cui nodded. The audience quieted down and Mr. Wang used the final minute to impart a bit of wisdom about collecting antiques in modern-day China: “Just as China opened up, so too is collecting about opening the mind to understand the outside world.”

It was hard to tell whether Mr. Cui was listening, but he certainly heard the host announce the judges’ verdict: “It’s a modern reproduction!”

Mr. Cui winced as he swung the mallet, shattering the vase — and with it his dreams of the wealth it might have brought at auction. Cue the instant replay.

Some four decades after the Cultural Revolution, when many of the country’s centuries-old treasures were defaced or destroyed as a result of Mao’s command to eradicate “the four olds” — old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits — China has reversed its attitude toward antiques. Ming dynasty porcelain vases, 19th-century hardwood furniture and even early 20th-century calligraphy ink pots have become popular status symbols for an emerging middle class eager to display its new wealth and cultural knowledge. The antiques market has become so hot, in fact, that it has given rise to a new category of must-see TV here.

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Cool Finds: A look at some 2000 year old, Han Dynasty earthenwares

Han dynasty cocoon jar 1024x838 Cool Finds: A look at some 2000 year old, Han Dynasty earthenwares

A 2000 year old, Han dynasty earthenware jar with swirling cloud patterns

Han dynasty ming qi 300x201 Cool Finds: A look at some 2000 year old, Han Dynasty earthenwares

A set of Han earthenware painted jugs

Note: All images are clickable.

During our treks and travels, we come across all sorts of rare, unusual and interesting things. Like this 300 year old temple table we stumbled across this past summer. Or this Chinese ancestor painting which eventually wound up permanently wall-mounted in a friends living room. But this cache of Han Dynasty earthenware, which we recently found surely deserves a mention. Now, normally our blog is encompassing of all topics pertaining to antiques, but in this case, these Han dynasty burial items are best described in terms of antiquities and archeology. And though by no means, am I an archeologist,  I must say I understand that there just something really cool about holding an object in your hands made over 2000 years ago (Or for that matter, owning something that can found in museums or at Christies Auction house).

First, a quick lesson in history. Lasting almost 400 years, the Han dynasty (Han Dynasty, 206 B.C- 220 A.D) consisted of two main periods referred to as “Western Han” (Chang’ an) and  “Eastern Han” (Luo yang) which is why you will see Han burial items often referred to in this manner ( Its worthy to note that there does indeed  exist a third and very short in between dynasty named “xin” or “Wang Man”). To put that much time into perspective, lets just say, this was during the same period as the Roman Empire, the silk road and the birth and death of Christ.

Coccon shaped han dynasty jug 300x282 Cool Finds: A look at some 2000 year old, Han Dynasty earthenwares

Coccon shaped Han dynasty "hu" jar similar to the one in the Kimbell Art Museam

DSC08013 300x225 Cool Finds: A look at some 2000 year old, Han Dynasty earthenwares

A closer look at the mouth of the above Han dynasty jug

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Can furniture get drunk? A look at the works of Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei

This wouldn’t a proper blog on Chinese furniture and culture without a least a mention of the Chinese contemporary artist Ai Wei Wei, who reinterprets traditional and classical furniture designs in unexpected ways. In one instance, “officials hat chairs” are carved  from solid blocks of white marble (and with no joinery I might add). In another, a terra-cotta Han dynasty vase is emblazoned with the logo of Coca Cola. An excellent quote by Geoff Manaugh sums up Ai Wei Wei’s work just nicely!

“For “Grapes”, 2008, Ai partially merged ten stools; they force their way into the others structure, like mutant siblings slowly fusing in the womb. Here, several centuries’ worth of artisan furniture production have been hybridized to form something altogether new. In Ai’s Table with Two Legs on the Wall, 1997, a single table has been folded in half to rear up like a horse and rest its legs against the wall. It is cousins with the centaur: a mythic being trapped between two forms, two competing versions of itself. Another table – “Table with Three Legs”, 2008 – has been turned into a spidery mechanism, a low-tech machine of wood, its legs akimbo and stance slightly askew. Carefully poised, it seems so unsure of itself – yet strangely at ease with its unusual new form. Can furniture get drunk?, one might ask. “Table with Three Legs” offers an answer in its very geometry.”

For more on Ai Wei Wei see: http://phillipsartexpert.com/forums/7/597/ or http://www.phillipsdepury.com/exhibitions.aspx?sn=EXUK1009

 

The real deal: Looking back a few hundred years at an authentic chinese alter table

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 name alludes to its former use and one can’t help but imagine monks keeping quarters with this table. Modestly estimated to be approximately 300 years old, there are several clues to look that allude to its age starting with the wood below the hardware worn to the bone from endless contact over the years.

Note: All images are clickable.

A common feature on many genuine antiques is defacement from the cultural revolution or “Wénhuà Dà Gémìng,” a period of great political and social turmoil in China’s recent history. From roughly 1966 to 1976 Mao Zedong launched a massive campaign to destroy the “four olds”, namely old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. During this time, Red Guards burned antique books, ransacked architecture, shattered old porcelain and destroyed or defaced carvings and even whole pieces of furniture. On the table below, the faces have been rudely hacked away.

 

The real deal: Looking back a few hundred years at an authentic chinese alter table

The “chao tou” or wing-like swooping edges of the table are carved from a single large log with no visual seams or joints; a practice rarely used in contemporary times.

819.thumbnail The real deal: Looking back a few hundred years at an authentic chinese alter table

816 The real deal: Looking back a few hundred years at an authentic chinese alter table

A second clue to its age and origin is the thin layer or coarse horse hair mesh, between the wood and the lacquer. Not quite refined enough to be considered fabric, this rough layer of hair allows the wood below some freedom to expand and contract according the climate and humidity without cracking the lacquer above.

The real deal: Looking back a few hundred years at an authentic chinese alter table

And then there is the original finish, crackled beautifully through the endless passing of time.

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Hunting for treasures in Beijing’s Antique furniture markets

rogerfurniture2.thumbnail Hunting for treasures in Beijings Antique furniture markets

This past weekend, ACF China and  The Hutong organized a field trip for local expats here in Beijing to visit an genuine outdoor wholesale antique market, where peasants from the countryside bring un-restored antique furniture and other curios to sell to wholesalers, collectors and restorers. The trip proved a success, allowing attendees a fascinating peek directly into the hidden corners of the antiques industry. A bit dusty, a bit dirty, and situated on the far outskirts of Beijing, this market exists solely through word of mouth and is not found on any map or guidebook. Chris Buckley, owner of Torana Carpets and author of the book “Tibetan Furniture” accompanied us on our excursion and his own post about our tip on his RugDogBlog sums up our trip much better then I can:


“In years gone by furniture vendors from the countryside came right into the city to sell their furniture, but these days with increasing ground rents and lack of space in the city the trade is conducted much further out from the city, in this case about 45 minutes drive from Guo Mao. This spot is strictly a wholesale market, with unrestored items piled high in the warehouses of individual sellers from different parts of China.

In a couple of hours we were only able to scratch the surface of what is a very large market. We visited several vendors from north China (Shanxi and Inner Mongolia), though apparently there are sellers at the market from most regions. It’s been a long time since I have looked at wholesale furniture like this (the last time I looked at it seriously was back in the mid-90s) and it was reassuring to see that there is still old furniture out there! Vendors are now going a lot further afield for their old furniture than in the ’90s and many are bringing in furniture from the border regions versus the central China styles that were more common in previous years. “

Hunting for treasures in Beijings Antique furniture markets

Though this particular trip was not a buying trip, we will organize future excursions, buying trips and longer outings, so check back here regularly and/or on  The Hutong‘s Website for upcoming dates.  Thanks to Chris Buckley for tagging along and for providing the wonderful group photos shown here.

rogerfurniture1.thumbnail Hunting for treasures in Beijings Antique furniture markets

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Whoops! TV show assistant smashes 2,500-year-old Chinese bronze mirror

Here is one that seemed to miss me, despite having even been picked up by wired magazine. Ever get nervous watching people handle priceless porcelain or works of art? Worried they might drop it? Well how about this one (Anyone have the video of this?).

stunned audience.thumbnail Whoops! TV show assistant smashes 2,500 year old Chinese bronze mirror

TV show assistant smashes 2,500-year-old bronze mirror

2007-01-17 03:30:10 Xinhua English

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — A Chinese television show audience watched dumbstruck as a presenter’s assistant accidentally smashed a 2,500-year-old bronze mirror.

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The specialists guide to Chinese antiques is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache