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Chinese antique furniture general information
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.
Chinese furniture uses a number of types of wood that are only known by their is that some types of wood have several Chinese names, and the same Chinese name can be applied to several types of wood. The two most valued types of wood are Huang Huali and Zitan. The former is a tropical hardwood that grows in China, and has a wide range of colors. In its lighter variations, it is called Huang (yellow) Huali, and in its darker manifestations, Lao (old) Huali. Zitan, with its purplish brown color, can be considered the most precious type of timber, and its expense and rarity are related to the fact that it was imported. More common timber types are oak, elm, maple, chestnut, poplar, birch, Hong Mu and Nan Mu.
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