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Chinese Antique Furniture History |
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Chinese antique furniture has
a long history.
Ancient Chinese furniture has a fine reputation in modern China and the
West alike, It features profound cultural facts and superb
craftsmanship. Chinese furniture was usually lacquered red or black and
then painted, and often carved and sometimes inlaid with other materials
such as precious stones, The development of traditional Chinese
furniture went from the simple to the intricate, and was closely linked
to the Chinese lifestyle and cultural and economic changes in China. |
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Examples of excavated lacquer furniture from the
ancient kingdom of Chu
(ca. 500 BC) demonstrate an aesthetic of minimalism and simplicity, and
others are decorated with unique colorful patterns and bear finely
carved decoration in relief and openwork. The blending of artistic form
with practical functionality can be seen as a common thread running
throughout the long history of Chinese furniture. |
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Low platforms were another early form of raised seating furniture which
were used as honorific seats by high officials and religious dignitaries
during ceremonial and sacrificial rites. |
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Fine lacquered wooden furniture had already appeared as early as the
Han Dynasty.
Records from the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) indicate that these sitting
platforms were called ta; the relatively longer chuang was used both for
sitting and reclining. |
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With the eastward migration of Buddhism from India, chairs and raised
platforms began to appear with more frequency as the status enhancing
seats of great masters, along with the custom of disciples gathered
around seated upon stools. |
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During the Wei-Jin
(220-420 A.D.) and the
Northern and Southern
dynasties (420-589 A.D.) period,
Western-style chairs, folding stools, and other seating gradually
entered China. Hourglass-shaped stools made of straw and basketwork also
begin to appear during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-586 AD)
period; similarly shaped stools of rattan are still found throughout
modern China. |
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By the Tang dynasty
(618-907 AD), stools and chairs had
become common amongst the elite and those of rank. Prototypes to the
yoke back chair as well as the round back chair appear in contemporary
paintings and wall murals which depict the sitter with legs both pendant
and crossed. |
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By the Northern and
Southern Song (960-1279) periods, many
types of high furniture had developed and were commonly used throughout
all circles of life. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Chinese
began to change the habit of kneeling or sitting cross-legged on a
platform to sitting with legs pendant on a stool. Scenes recorded within
contemporary paintings as well as archeological finds reveal that
tables, chairs, stools, and benches of the architecturally related
recessed-leg style were widely used. This gave rise to furniture of
level height. The technically structured and multi-decorated Song
furniture laid the foundation for the further development and perfection
of Ming and Qing furniture. |
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The furniture was mostly made from precious wood, in the Ming
(1368-1644) and Qing (1616-1911) dynasties. Chinese furniture was highly
developed in the Ming Dynasty. Carpentry skills had already reached a
high level in the Song and Yuan 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. The Chinese antique furniture of the Ming
and Qing dynasties is of exquisite design, unique workmanship and
colorful carving. It has been the rare treasure and one of the most
splendid parts of Oriental culture. |
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This combined with the growing prosperity of city commercial economy,
the rise of house and garden buildings and the import of large
quantities of hardwood from Southeast Asia facilitated its success. It
reached a high level of aesthetic success and could even claim a place
in the history of world furniture. |
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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. The Ming style antique Chinese furniture has been
considered as the model of Chinese furniture, with its craftsmanship
exquisite, its looks elegantly simple, the lines simplified and smooth,
the mortise and tenon firm and the construction reasonable. |
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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. Ming furniture features simple, smooth, and
flowing lines, and plain and elegant ornamentation, fully bringing out
the special qualities of frame-structure furniture. So the Ming
furniture usually has simple structures, unique shapes and minimal
decorations which would reserve the natural beauty of the wood. Ming
furniture is simple with sparse lines and little decoration. |
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It usually features fine and durable precious woods, such as mahogany,
sandalwood, rose wood etc.. Lines were ingeniously applied to emphasize
details such as the back of an armchair and the legs and resting bars of
chairs and tables. The majority of Ming furniture was made of timber
from indigenous trees such as pine, elm and zelkova (known as ‘southern
elm'). |
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Main emphasis was placed on the application of the natural beauty of the
wood texture and adopting latticework and openwork carving. However, the
lifting of a ban on imports in 1567 and the subsequent increase in
maritime trade also saw the use of tropical hardwoods, mostly imported
from South East Asia. These included the dense, precious hardwoods Zitan
and Huang-Huali. |
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In the early Qing
Dynasty, furniture inherited
characteristics of the Ming Dynasty, from the reign of Emperor Yongzheng
to Emperor Jiaqing. Influenced by China's burgeoning foreign trade and
advanced craftsmanship techniques, furniture of the Qing Dynasty period
turned to rich and intricate ornamentation, along with coordinated
engraved designs. |
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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. Because of the
high level of development of Chinese furniture in the Ming and Qing
dynasties, most Chinese furniture design today follows in the tradition
of pieces from these two periods. |
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Some pieces were carved from head to foot and had inlays of stone,
mother-of-pearl, porcelain, metal, and enamel. Qing furniture in
contrast is larger and more imposing with elaborate carving and inlaid
decoration. These two types of furniture differed.Qing furniture had
curved decorations and exaggerated shapes that demanded attention. .
Beginning in the late Qing Dynasty, foreign living styles began to be
adopted in China, with the result that originally predominant
Chinese-style furnishings gradually became collector's items. |
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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 furniture, with its sparse lines. |
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Chinese antique furniture has a long history. Over the next few
centuries furniture design and construction continued to be refined,
leading up to the late Ming period (1368 - 1644), which is considered by
most to be the golden age of Chinese furniture. By this time China had
become extremely prosperous, particularly its coastal cities, and demand
for luxury items including fine furniture had grown. Especially in the
late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it reached a pinnacle of fine design
and workmanship. The shape of furniture during this period is simple,
clear, and beautiful for its elegant designs. |
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The Chinese antique furniture styles of Ming and Qing dynasties are
particularly unique for their elegance and de of Ming furniture was made
of timber from indigenous trees such as pine, elm and zelkova (known as
‘southern elm'). |
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Furniture produced during the early Qing period (1644 - 1911) was
similar to Ming and continued to display classic, simple lines, however,
Chinese furniture was highly developed in the Ming Dynasty. Carpentry
skills had already reached a high level in the Song and Yuan dynasties.
Ming furniture is characterized by a simple and elegant structure with
fluent lines and appealing proportions The designs that came out of
China during the Ming dynasty were much admired by the Europeans and
have had a major influence on Western interior design.. Qing furniture
in contrast is larger and more imposing with elaborate carving and
inlaid decoration. These two types of furniture differed greatly in
style but each reached a high level of artistic success and can claim a
place in the history of world furniture. |
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The Chinese antique furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties is of
exquisite design, unique workmanship and vivid carving. It has been the
rare treasure and one of the most splendid parts of Oriental culture. |
