chinese antique stool

antique sideboard

small cabinet

Chinese antique cabinets can be divided into two styles according to origin: North and South.

North antique cabinets are usually simple, clear and smooth. South Chinese cabinets are likely to have more carvings, painting and other decorations. Red, dark yellow and black are the common colors.

By size, we have so called big(large) cabinets and small cabinets today.

Through thousands of years history, different styles of antique cabinets are reserved till now and with the spread of reproduction techniques, many antique cabinet can be available in good condition at present. More and more factories which specialize in refurnishing of old furniture are emerging and developing.

It's a booming industry for people begin to realize the value of old furniture.From antique cabinets, we can mostly find the content of old Chinese culture and history.

And it's also a good selection for home decoration.Large cabinets are fantastic. They have so much storage space with good looking. Small cabinets are adaptable by a bed or sofa.

stone buddha

BED

Chinese antique cabinets can be divided into two styles according to origin: North and South.

North antique cabinets are usually simple, clear and smooth. South Chinese cabinets are likely to have more carvings, painting and other decorations. Red, dark yellow and black are the common colors.

By size, we have so called big(large) cabinets and small cabinets today.

Through thousands of years history, different styles of antique cabinets are reserved till now and with the spread of reproduction techniques, many antique cabinet can be available in good condition at present. More and more factories which specialize in refurnishing of old furniture are emerging and developing.

It's a booming industry for people begin to realize the value of old furniture.From antique cabinets, we can mostly find the content of old Chinese culture and history.

And it's also a good selection for home decoration.Large cabinets are fantastic. They have so much storage space with good looking. Small cabinets are adaptable by a bed or sofa.

chinese antique paint cabinet with goodcraft skilled.We have good quality control in manufacture process.

Link : www.cantonfair.org.cn

The 14th China International Furniture Expo
Date: Sep.10 13,2008
Booth No. : W4D10

Looking forward to meeting you at fair!

Link: www.furnitureinchina.com

Link: www.ciff gz.com

Booth No. 9.3E02

Sales Team

New Products

There is a culture of sitting in China. It can be found in the chaotic metropolises and rustic villages across the country
Everywhere you turn, someone is sitting on a low makeshift perch, whether it be a wooden stool or bench, piles of bricks or a discarded stuffed armchair Today, the lowly stool is a sign of poverty, unemployment or sheer boredom Although most examples fall into the category of vernacular furniture, even the most commonplace examples have a sculptural beauty that transcends their humble roots (Figs 149, 150)
However degraded today, the stool was not always the inferior cousin of the chair. Stools made of hardwood and lacquer were always found in the homes of the upper classes. The stool is the perfect interior accessory—easy to move wound and as comfortable in a formal reception hall as it is in a lady's chamber. For informal occasions, stools would be pulled up to square tables at mealtimes, as shown in woodblock prints (see Figs 9, 10, page 15) When comfort and warmth were needed, stools could be covered with cushions or textiles They could be carried outside to the courtyard or garden, used as tables or stands for objects, or even employed as stepladders.
The original stool known as file barbarian bed is thought to have originated in the second century. Only the top commanders, directing troops in battle, were allowed to use it Conceived for military use, this functional seat was later adapted by peddlers and the leisure class alike The stool showcases the economy of material, clarity of construction and convenience that epitomizes classic Chinese furniture. There are few surviving examples of the folding stool; however, one fine example was sold by Christie's in the Robert Piccus Collation (1992) Rather than the typical woven seat found , in stools (Figs. 153, 154), this one has wooden slats, which possibly suggests that in addition to being used as a traveling seat, it doubled as a horse mount.

from Zhejiang province shown in Fig 163 has a coarser design.
Although craftsmen were slaves to standardization, there were occasional creative flourishes During the Ming
Fig 160
Waisted rectangular stool huanghuali seventeenth century Photo courtesy Robert A Piccus

Fig.161
Meditation stools with straight legs and fretwork spandrels huanghuali, seventeenth century Zhejiang province Photo courtesy

Charles Wong

Fig.162
Square stool with modified shou character between the apron and humpback stretchers huanghuali
Jiangsu province. Collection of Philip Ng

Fig.163
Simple waisted vernacular stool, Zhejiang province Photo courtesy Art of Chen.

Fig.164
Drum stool, huanghuali seventeenth century. Private collection. Photo courtesy MD Flacks

Fig.165
Pair of rectangular waisted stools with scrolled hoofs zitan eighteenth century North China The leaf carving is in a style that reflects Western decorative styles Photo courtesy Peter Fung.

Fig.166,167
Vernacular three legged stools yumu, late Qing dynasty, Shanxi province. Collection of Just Anthony

With each step down the social ladder, the stool drops lower to the ground (Figs 171, 172) Perhaps the most poignant example of stool size and hierarchy can be seen in the multiple stool in Fig 173 which was possibly used by a servant to squat on in order to bind the feet of her lady who would have placed her disfigured "lotus buds" on the upper stool for ministrations

Headrests were another innovation (Figs 174, 175) A headrest looks like a stool, except it is very small, low to the ground and features a dip in the center to accommodate the neck The legs of headrests are often splayed for support. While classic headrests like the Ming style zitan example shown are revered for their simplicity, ornate headrests crafted during the Qing dynasty also exist Comfort was not an issue for this particular zitan, cloud patterned headrest.
Contemplation or meditation stools were another type of seat (Figs 176,177). These large square seats are low to the ground and sometimes feature backrests or armrests. They are meant to accommodate a monk in the lotus position
The uninitiated might assume that the bench was a common seat around a food table (Fig. 179) This was not so Although some benches may have been used for dining purposes, the bench was conceived for more romantic functions: it was built for love and music. A musician playing a qin might sit on a low bench while his admiring audience sat on the floor (Figs 180 184).

Here we feature a visual array of Chinese furniture of Ming and Qing dynasty and decorative ideas, from highly collectable antiques to modern minimal interpretations of Chinese style. Materials are diverse, but tend to favour the natural. It’s a veritable cornucopia of ideas: table, bed, chair, and so on.

Chinese Antique Furnitures Miscellaneous Items Decoration Tips

Minimalism

Less is more when accessorizing a minimalist Oriental dcor. Ruminate on the grace and beauty of each piece. Carefully select them for elegant, dramatic, even artistic impact. Stand larger pieces alone so they make their own statement. Group together smaller pieces, like Chinese lacquered, miniature furniture.

Pieces
Blue and white porcelain, red or black lacquer ware, painted mask, shadow puppet, bamboo handled teapots, carved jade, boxes with mother of pearl inlay or stoneware pottery with painted imagery are common.

Some special items include Chinese bamboo wedding baskets, 18th century chinoiserie, fan shaped lacquered stacking boxes. Mirrors with ornately carved frames that hail from Burma or Bali and look almost Indian, are a fusion of colonial and native styles.

Sculpture

Don't forget a sculpture or two, uplit for extra effect, such as a Lahu hill tribe musical instrument, essentially a primitive harp. Choose also a cho fa roof ornament on a pedestal or a Chinese netsuke, a carved belt toggle used to secure pouches through the sash of the kimono.

Screens
Screens can function as a backdrop to a statue if they are solid colored, laminated surfaces or simply designed. Or they can be accent pieces unto themselves if more elaborate. Consider the 18th century carved jade table screens or axonometric cityscape on an eight paneled screen.

Wall Hangings

On walls, hang framed hand made paper or, for higher style, the striking black brushstrokes of Chinese calligraphy. For drama, place an antique Chinese kimono or embroidered Chinese shawl.

Other Dcor

Enhance a calm aura by displaying a statue of Buddha, a vase with a lone plum or cherry blossom branch, a bonsai tree. Use Chinese "scholar" rocks – a flat circular basket filled with pebbles, medium sized rocks and one large rock.

Achieve balanced energy and promote good fortune with such feng shui artifacts. Try a pair of carved wood mandarin ducks to enhance marriage prospects, fish for prosperity, and a small water fountain for luck.

Storage Cabinets
Oriental storage cabinets and chests are solid, rectangular forms with inventive detailing and workmanship. Designs include light relief carvings of dragons chasing pearls or lacquered surfaces with asymmetrical designs of nature themes.

Artique Galleria
Certain Furnishings staff members appear to have become addicted to Antique Galleria near downtown Minneapolis lately, bursting into the office with news of their latest finds. It’s a fun place to shop: a panorama of breathtaking beauty, color, and form, full of alter tables, carved window panels, chairs, chests, decorative accessories like ginger jars, bowls, plates, vases, and more. Prices range from $10 to the thousands.

We asked co owner Nora Rottier how they get all that great stuff. “We import directly,” she tells us. “We spend quite a bit of time in rural China, Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand. We’ve gotten to know lots of people and we’re always able to find out who wants to sell things. We develop good relationships; that’s important in Asia.”

Direct importing is a conscious philosophy for Artique. “We don’t buy at shows in Hong Kong, LA or Chicago, or even in the urban Asian markets,” Rottier comments. “We take the time to work directly with people in their villages and homes so that we can purchase unique, high quality items. Sometimes we’re amazed at what we come across once in a while we’ll find a piece you’d only expect to see in a museum. Customers often comment on our unique selection and good prices; that’s the beauty of doing things this way.”

Direct importing also results in an assurance of authenticity; they always buy pieces in the original condition with the original hardware–they won’t consider anything that’s been worked on or restored. When pieces need cleaning or repair, the pair contracts with local craftspeople who are familiar with the techniques and materials before shipping to their Minneapolis or San Jose stores.

“Our wedding cabinets are especially popular,” Rottier notes. “They’re hand painted or carved wood, and they’re quite dramatic and full of interesting hardware. Customers like them because they’re unusual but incredibly functional; they’ll often put TVs or stereos in them.”

Some customers furnish their entire homes in Asian antiques; others add just one piece to add to otherwise Western style rooms. Occasionally, store staff will go to clients’ homes to help them make smart selections. Rottier has noticed that people now consider it ‘good design’ to have some kind of Asian piece in a home. She alerts her mailing list when new shipments arrive.

Artique Galleria is located at 1607 Hennepin Avenue, across from the Basilica. Hours: Tuesday Saturday 11 5 or by appointment; phone: 612 370 1332. View their online catalog at artiquegalleria.com.

C.W. SMITH

We love antique stores run by people with a passion for their merchandise, retailers who can tell you everything, for example, about that table you’ve got your eye on: where it came from, who might have used it, the style, the period. They’ll remember it a year later when you call, frantic about a water stain. Don’t worry–they know what to do. They may even come out to your home to help you.

That’s how C.W. Smith is. The Asian antique import store in St. Louis Park is a family business owned by Wade and Carol Smith and daughter, Vanessa. They’ve created a warm, inviting, even peaceful environment within their storefront space, and their dedication to helping customers find and enjoy beautiful things is refreshing.
Their vintage merchandise, a range of wood and lacquer furniture, pottery, porcelain, textiles, artifacts and more, comes from all over Asia. The displays are great they help spark ideas for how to use the pieces in your home. “One of my favorite parts of this job is just being around all these pieces and enjoying them for what they are, and helping people understand the beauty of them,” notes Vanessa Smith.

Many of C.W. Smith’s antique furniture pieces are hewn of incredibly large, thick pieces of wood you just don’t see anymore. We especially loved the functional beauty of the British, Dutch and Portuguese Colonial furniture and the exquisite Chinese cabinets and Thai laquerware we recently saw there.

It’s the place to go if you’re a collector; the shop has some very impressive artifacts: one visit turned up artifacts from the Han dynasty (221 BC 220 AD), the Ming dynasty (1368 1644) and Chinese furniture from the late16th century. There are also more “recent” Asian antiques–furniture and accessories of all kinds from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in many price ranges.

The Smiths are direct importers, frequently travelling to Asia. “You really have to go and enmesh yourself in an environment if you want to discover beautiful objects. It takes time but that's the joy of it,” Vanessa says.

C. W. Smith: 4424 Excelsior Boulevard, St. Louis Park. 952 922 8542. Open Tues Sat 10 5, Sun 12 4 or by appointment.

Fleming * Karst
What’s larger than a convenience store, smaller than a warehouse and full, from wall to wall, with 19th century Chinese antique furniture and furnishings. If you guessed anew store named Fleming * Karst you would be right. The store in downtown St. Paul features armoires, chests,chairs, dining tables, end tables, altar tables, headboards, screens, baskets, planters and a host of other antiques from mainland China.

The Fleming * Karst name comes from the two principals, Barb Fleming and Patt Karst, neighbors with a shared love of old and unique Asian furniture and accent
furnishings.Barb Fleming, recently back from a furniture buying trip in China, explains. “These Asian pieces can be any furniture item from a simple basket that might sit on a table to a full size armoire in a hallway or living room. They can be altar tables, side chairs or even an ornate storage box or trunk that decorators and homeowners may use as a coffee table. The pieces were originally designed to be utilitarian and functional. Today we can adapt them to both enhance a decorative styling and to provide 21st century needs.”

“The uses are many and varied,” adds Patt Karst. Patt Karst, a professional interior designer, believes that home interiors are “most interesting when they reflect the cultural variety we find all around us. A 19th century Chinese altar table in an entryway, for example, is a fascinating introduction to a home that promises guests an international flavor throughout the rest of the interior.”

Does this mean we should dedicate our entire house to 19th century Asia? Not really, say the two women. The antique Asian pieces are intended as “accent” furniture. As such, they create a focus of international interest within any decorating theme from Victorian to Contemporary. Barb Fleming, who developed her appreciation of antique furniture while living in Great Britain, has been working with antique Asian pieces for the past 5 years. Patt Karst, who has also traveled in China, joined Barb Fleming about 6 months ago and the two now oversee what must be the largest antique Asian furniture store the Twin Cities area.

The new 2,500 sq. ft. store in Lowertown offers decorators and home owners a chance to see a personally selected shipment — from ornate and high color chests and armoires to “half moon” tables, traveling chests, screens, wash stands and canopy beds. Several pieces are well suited to present generation use such as the armoires and cabinets which have been modified to house TV sets, hold entertainment centers and internally arranged for other storage duties.

The notion that each piece is personally selected comes about through the help of an Asian associate who evaluates the pieces for authenticity and general condition. Then the staff at Fleming * Karst reviews each potential piece. Often that review entails a trip to the Orient. Carefully selected furniture items now available include Asian furniture and specialty items in a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and wood finishes.Fleming Karst also offers a fine selection of accessories that are ideal for gifts and special occasions.

The new Fleming Karst store is located at 180 E. Fifth St., Suite 180 in Lowertown, Downtown St. Paul. The exterior entrance is on Jackson St. between 4th and 5th. Store hours are M F: 10 8, Sat: 10 6 and Sun: 11 5. Phone number is 651 292 9900.

The Mysterious Beauty of Black Lacquer
Mysterious beauty of black lacquer antique Chinese black lacquer furniture .

Black lacquer has fascinated the Chinese since antiquity. Having the yin characteristics of dark and mysterious, black belongs to the Five Colors and is directly associated with Water, one of the Five Elements. People have always considered it sophisticated and stylish, and have appreciated the high levels of craftsmanship involved in its manufacture.

Now, black lacquer furniture is "the next big thing" in antique collecting and interior design. It has a modern, stylish look, a clean finish and a strong silhouette, so it blends perfectly with modern interiors. Also, if a collector wants to start a collection today, there are still some excellent pieces available, and they will only appreciate in value.

Practically speaking, raw lacquer, which is tapped from the lacquer tree (Rhus Verniciflua), typically has a dark reddish brown to black tone. With further processing, a transparent lacquer can be produced; more common was pigmentation with iron oxide to achieve tonalities reaching jet black. Thin successive applications of lacquer form a rich, deep toned coating that is highly resilient and impervious to water. Inlaid or painted decoration was also easily added to its surface. The finely crackled surfaces and richly mellowed tones of such finishes have been a subject of connoisseurship for centuries.

Techniques commonly used in black lacquer antique chinese furniture include daqi, referring to the thick finishes applied over a lacquer paste undercoating; tuiqi, a thinner finish applied directly to the surface of the wood, and miaojin (lit. "traced in gold"), involving the application of colored lacquers with gold highlights to depict painterly scenes against an opaque often black lacquer background.

The following pieces exhibit all of these techniques, displaying the mysterious beauty of black lacquer.

CIFF 2009 23st China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou)
Date: March18 21,2009
Booth No. : 10.3 C12

Looking forward to meeting you at fair !

Link: www.ciff gz.com

Booth No. 13.1H42 43

Date:April24 28,2009

China Import and Expoet Complex (Guangzhou)

Looking forward to meeting you at fair!

Don't Guess On the Size of Dining Table Sets that Will Fit

One common mistake many people make is looking at dining table sets in the furniture store and falling in love with a table set that they are sure will fit their dining room. How they look in the store and how the same pieces will fit into your dining room are two different things. Because of the massive size of furniture store showrooms, most pieces of furniture look smaller than they actually are. You should always measure your dining room space and take that measurement with you.

Not Measuring Other Furniture in the Room

Before you try to fit new dining table sets into your home, you need to make sure they will fit with all the other pieces that are in the room. When you take measurements of the dining room, don't forget any other furniture pieces that will also be in the space with the one you purchased. If you forget about that buffet or china cabinet, you may end up with a very tight fit, or worse, a table that won't fit.

Not Counting Place Settings

Holiday meals aside, you should generally know how many people will be enjoying meals at your dining table sets. Make sure you have enough space to fit all of the family members who have to be seated around the table. If you have a large family, you may need to see if there are extra chairs you can purchase with it to make room for all of them.

Not Going One Size Bigger

If you have the room, you may want to go a little larger than what would be a comfortable fit for those who usually sit at your dining table sets. After all, you never know when unexpected guests may happen by at dinnertime. Additionally, if you have a large meal, or just enjoy a little extra space to stretch out at the table, choosing a table that is one size larger will give you some extra space to enjoy.

Not Matching the Wood

The final mistake many people make when choosing dining table sets is that they don't carefully match the wood of the new one with the other pieces of furniture in their dining room. It is vital that you correctly match the wood colors, or you will always notice that part of the wood is 'a little off' from the rest of the room. Remember, lighting can make a difference in how wood looks. If you can, take a piece, or a good picture, of your current dining furniture with you to match the colors as closely as you can.

Date: Sep.9 12,2009

Shanghai New International Expo Center

Booth No. : W4D18

Looking forward to meeting you at fair!

Link: www.furnitureinchina.com