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Ancient Chinese furniture has a fine reputation
in modern China and the West alike, Chinese ancient furniture features profound
cultural facts and superb craftsmanship. The furniture was mostly made from precious
wood, in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1616-1911) dynasties. It is widely recognized
as the best, because furniture before the Ming Dynasty did not survive wars and
time, traditional Chinese furniture craftsmanship did not reach its zenith until
the Ming Dynasty. It reached a high level of aesthetic success and could even
claim a place in the history of world furniture.
Chinese furniture was usually lacquered red or black and then painted, and often
carved and sometimes inlaid with other materials such as precious stones, etc.Ming
Dynasty funiture is known for its simplicity with sparse lines and little decoration
while Qing furniture emphasizes detail and extravagance. Furniture from southern
China tends to be very elaborate whereas northern furniture is big, heavy and
grand.
Ming Dynasty Furniture:
Ming furniture is simple with sparse lines and little decoration. It usually features
fine and durable precious woods, such as mahogany, sandalwood, rose wood etc.
In the Ming Dynasty, the demand for fine furniture, the ample supply of wood and
the highly developed tenon-mortise technology all facilitated the success of the
Ming furniture. Craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty used the succinct language of art
to express their inner feelings, and combined ingeniously with the beauty of simplicity
and quietness. So the Ming furniture usually has simple structures, unique shapes
and minimal decorations which would reserve the natural beauty of the wood. Lines
were ingeniously applied to emphasize details such as the back of an armchair
and the legs and resting bars of chairs and tables. Main emphasis was placed on
the application of the natural beauty of the wood texture and adopting latticework
and openwork carving. On eye-striking places such as the backs of armchairs, there
would be simple patterns by relief engraving or openwork carving.
Qing Dynasty Furniture:
In the early Qing Dynasty, furniture inherited characteristics of the Ming Dynasty,
from the reign of Emperor Yongzheng to Emperor Jiaqing. After political power as stabilized and the economy improved, people began to pay more attention to
more material things in there lives, and demanded decorative and luxurious furnishings,
gaudiness and sumptuousness were a basic features of Qing furniture which was
usually heavy and sizable, featuring exquisitely carved patterns. Some pieces
were carved from head to foot and had inlays of stone, mother-of-pearl, porcelain,
metal, and enamel. Qing furniture had curved decorations and exaggerated shapes
that demanded attention. Chinese traditional furniture has a strong aesthetic
appeal due to its apparently simple lines and the fact that it makes use of "natural
materials" such as the finest hardwoods-no fusty stuffed couches here. Ready comparisons
can be made to Danish furniture, with its sparse lines.
With Chinese furniture, you see what you get. Nothing is hidden, and the wood
is polished, stained or lacquered to evoke its natural earthiness and grainy patterns.Chinese furniture reached a pinnacle of fine
design and workmanship from the sixteenth centuries, the later part of the Ming
period. Fine furniture is characterized by restrained and elegant designs and
complex joinery that held the furniture together without glue or nails.
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