The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

July 23, 2009 11:57 pm

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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This enormous solid wood console (over two meters) which probably dates back to the Ming Dynasty, originally made its home in a temple in Shanxi province before being stumbled upon by us in the far off, dusty dirty corners of the antiques trade.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 “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.

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.

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

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The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

May 12, 2009 6:21 am

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Hunting for treasures in Beijing's 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. “

 

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.

 

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The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

April 1, 2009 2:20 am

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Insiders Guide to Chinese Antiques: A new workshop at the Beijing Hutong School

When people hear the word “antiques,” they often relate it to something their grandmother might enjoy - in other words old-world - musty - boring! Which is why we will be starting a new course on Chinese antiques at The Beijing Hutong School. We want to be able to share some of the rich textures, colors and wonderful materials which we come across in our daily quest for the the cool, the unusual, the unique and the beautiful.

Insiders Guide to
Chinese Antique Furniture

From finding and restoring antique furniture to collecting and integrating into your home. An informal, non-stuffy and hands-on, insiders look at the world of Chinese antique furniture. Some of the topics we will cover will include:

1. Intro to Periods and styles including regional styles
2. Field trips to un-restored antique furniture market to see where antiques are collected from
3. Construction, repairing, restoring and joinery
4. Lacquers and finishes
5. Woods and materials from stone to rare woods to brass hardware.
6. Collecting and buying.
7. Fakes and authenticating
8. Field trip to furniture factory

 

For more information on these workshops including class dates and times, costs and how to reserve your spot, please visit The Hutong website directly at:

http://www.the-hutong.com

The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

March 16, 2009 8:09 am

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Working with a freight forwarder specializing in furniture packing and shipping

If you are in an antiques, furniture, or any other import related business, then the packing and shipping of your goods will be a crucial logistical detail which should not easily be overlooked. Since many buyers are unable to maintain a permanent office in China, and surely not individual buyers purchasing for their homes, they logically often turn to third-party packing agents to fill this void. Yet, packing and crating can determine if your item arrives without a scratch or rather in several pieces. Ocean Shipping might be a short direct hop across seas or turn out to be a  long delayed drawn out journey through canals and via detours. And even short term warehousing might mean either brief storage or long term loss of your product in someone else’s warehouse.

"A main issue, is with customers understanding of these providers scope of business (and their capabilities) - with the most common misconception being that these companies will take responsibility for getting your products picked up, packed and shipped out in good condition"

A read on ACF’s China’s furniture industry blog of the post entitled, “Using a consolidator for international shipping, freight, packing and inspection of antique furniture” talks at length about what to expect, what to look out for.

Read More….

The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

February 5, 2009 9:29 am

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Shanghai Trade Show: Antique Furniture China 2009

http://www.antiquefurniturefair.com/

 

	Showdates：	May 15-18,2009
	Venue：	Shanghai Exhibition Center （No.1000 Yan`an Road (Middle)Shanghai P.R.China
	Approved by : Shanghai Foreign Economic Relation & Trade Commission Shanghai Cultural Administration Committee
	Organizer：	Shanghai Antique Dealers Association Shanghai Real Exhibition Service Co., Ltd.
	Sponsors:	Shanghai Collection Association Zhejiang Collection Association Shanghai Zhongfu Curio Center Shanghai Yunzhou Curio Center Shanghai Friendship Department Store ShenZhen Curio Center Shanghai Curio & Artworks Almanac Edition Commission “Art & Collection “(Magazine) www.online.sh.cn
	Exhibits Range:	All kinds of Asia antiques & fine Arts,, Western antiques & fine Arts, lacquers, jade, porcelain, silverware, jewelry, clocks, oil-painting, carpets, stone carvings, western furniture, traditional tea & tea culture wares, snuff pots, copper carvings, Tanka, figure of Buddha, embroidery，ename

The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

January 20, 2009 4:57 am

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With this Chinese noodle cabinet-scholar cabinet, appearances can be deceiving!

A customer recently sent me these photos of a Chinese Noodle cabinet which they purchased from an estate auction. Their inquiry was pertaining to its age, value and authenticity. In other words, a quick antique appraisal. The question of course was the one I am asked most frequently which was “Is it old and is it valuable”

Is it really old?

If you read "Blurring the line" you know answering this question becomes even more difficult when you consider the awkward journey a piece my take as it travels through the "antique-reproduction" supply chain.

The first question of “is it old” is quite easy to answer: Yes and No. Before going any further, take a moment to read a post from a while back entitled “Blurring the line further… How to tell if its a genuine antique?” which will explain just nicely the points to consider here. Finished yet? Ok, great - back to this item.

In this particular case, the actual cabinet itself is a very common tapered edge Chinese Noodle cabinet or “Mian tiao gui” since the shape of the cabinet itself or the hardware (depending on who you talk to) slightly resembles the shape of a noodle. With carved doors like this, it may be mistaken for a scholar cabinet. In un-restored form, a cabinet like this may be referred to by the workers as as a “la ji gui” which literally means “trash cabinet.”A Chinese country antique cabinet such as the one above, in un-restored form, built from common woods (value is often placed on exotic hardwoods), of a non-descript style and in poor condition will often hold minimal value on its own, with its true worth being essentially as parts and raw materials. From a materials cost perspective, a badly damaged cabinet will be cheaper to restore then to build new from scratch.

A quick look at the overall process…

Here is a quick overview of what typically occurs:

1. Take a fairly standard poor condition country antique cabinet ranging in age from 30 to 80 years old, which can be used for parts & materials
2. Restore main structure, replacing damaged panels and other sections with replacement wood.
3. Add in additional details to spice it up like carved panels.
4. Add shelves and drawers for additional functionality (easier to sell)
5. Add a new lacquered finish to cover inexpensive woods, repairs, etc.
6. Use aging technique so item does not look “too new.”
7. Add detailed gold “miao jin” painting for an additional touch.
8. Install new hardware.
9. Claim to customer it is Qing dynasty scholar cabinet, at least 150 years old and sell at a premium price.
   
10. Finished!

A “trash cabinet,” like the one pictured above,may often be worth more for its parts then the sum.

Is it worth anything?

The answer is yes! However, maybe not for the reasons you might expect. Its worth something, because of the time and effort that an artisan put in hand-painting the gold trim and other details. Its worth something, every time someone visits your home and remarks what a beautiful cabinet it is. And its worth something, because you probably have a story about where and how you purchased it. So while it may not be worth an extreme amount in dollars, money is not the only value of worth. Its a beautiful piece and would look great in any home, and you never know - in 100 years down the road it just might be someone else’s genuine antique!

Some pretty standard inexpensive Chinese noodle cabinets up for sale on the internet

The specialist guide to Asian antiques and exotic home decor from the far east.

January 7, 2009 8:43 am

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Furniture Repairs: Improper restoration causes this "Old Shanghai" table-top to buckle and split

(Click images to enlarge)

 Question:

A reputable local antique Chinese furniture dealer sold us this nice Chinese table. It cracked a few months after getting it.  He has his own shop to produce furniture as well as sell antiques. I am sending you 3 photos, 1 of each side of the table, and 1 of the whole thing.  So there are really 2 large cracks in this poor beautiful old table. Can it be repaired rather than replace the top?

Answer:

Its hard to tell exactly from the photos (which are not so clear) but from what I can see, it looks like this is a colonial old Shanghai (also known as Lao Shanghai) art deco style table. The sides seem missing as normally this style of table has four “pointed” corner plates on the sides which when pulled up/opened (kind of like a drop leaf table) make the table square instead of hexagonal. Maybe they were missing when the item was collected in un-restored form, or maybe it was just too much trouble to replace/repair them. Who knows…

Also, again, its hard to tell from the photos but I think there are probably a number of portions of this piece which are completely new, though I cannot say at what percent without clearer photos. One of the legs “feels” new. I have seen the delicate tops buckle sometimes on un-restored colonial style tables over time, so it would not be surprising if it needed to be repaired during restoration and this is where the problem seems to have occurred. Repairs are normal for this sort of furniture and whats important is not the repair but rather how it was repaired.

Seems the issue with the cracked and split top, is that when the top was repaired, in a few places it seems that new wood replacement boards (glued together) were used, instead of using properly dried wood, old aged wood or reclaimed wood. In door environments, in particular where dry electric heat is used can accelerate this sort of cracking.

That’s probably why the cracking occurred as the wood was still moist and not fully dried. With old and/or reclaimed wood where the wood has had plenty of time to dry this is much less of a problem. The choice of wood used for this section can also have an effect as some woods are more prone to cracking (like pine) then others.

Another give away here is the actual edges on the new boards, as well as the patina itself, don’t match the rest of the delicate nature of the piece. Notice the thickness? There is also visible saw marks in the new boards. In fact, it might not even be the same species of wood. The grain seems much courser on the new boards.

It can be repaired, though the damaged board most likely should be replaced with something a bit more appropriate to the piece and following the recommendations above.