Basic guide to recognizing Tibetan antique furniture - Part 1

"Tibetan" style furniture is a phrase used loosely and frequently items made just yesterday are placed side by side with items 50 or 80 years old. Of course, all are claimed to be real "Tibetan Furniture." So when it comes to so called Tibetan" items, its important to know just what is is that you are actually purchasing and (hopefully) later on selling to your customers. So, without further ado, we will start off a series of posts to help you better understand and demonstrate the differences in the low end, the fake and even the good stuff!

An comparison of styles

Botellas Chinas Del Rapé: Artículos Coleccionables

Article in Spanish/Español...

La botella del rapé es probablemente uno de los artículos más pequeños y a la vez más buscados entre antigüedades chinas. Las botellas del rapé fueron utilizadas por el chino durante la dinastía de Qing para contener el tabaco en polvo. A mediados del siglo dieciseis hasta finales del mismo el uso del rapé y de las botellas del rapé fueron introducidas a la personas de clase alta, y antes del fin del décimo octavo siglo la costumbre se había transmitido hasta el resto del país y en cada clase social. ¡Era incluso común ofrecer una pizca del rapé como manera de saludar amigos y a parientes! Claro, no vayan a pensar que escribo este blog para promover el tabaco, sino cabe destacar que durante este periodo en China las botellas del rapé se convirtió en un objeto de la belleza y una manera de representar la clase social. Las botellas fueron hechas para ser sostenidos y por eso, en general, una buena botella del rapé debe tener una calidad táctil maravillosa. Para la mayoría, es aquel tacto y belleza que estimula esa interes en botellas del rapé.

http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog/2008/02/19/botellas-chinas-del-rape-articulos-coleccionables/

Year of the Rat starts - Springfestival

full article on : http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/blog

Year of the Pig ends and year of the Rat begins on febraury 7^th 2008 till January 26^th 2009

“Springfestival” or “Chinese Newyear” is nowadays well known in the West as well, though only experiencing it yourself will show you how important it is for the Chinese. The impact is huge, surely with the role China is playing in world trade nowadays. During 3 to 4 weeks 80% of the country is on holiday, so the buyers in the West prepare/plan ahead!

A definition :

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (simplified Chinese: 春节; pinyin: Chūnjié), or the Lunar New Year (simplified Chinese: 农历新年; pinyin: Nónglì xīnnián), is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and an important holiday in East Asia (and celebrated largely by overseas Chinese). The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called the Lantern festival (simplified Chinese: 元宵节; pinyin: yuánxiāojié).Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as Chúxī (除夕). Chu literally means “change” and xi means “Eve”.Lunar calendar :The lunisolar Chinese calendar determines Chinese New Year dates : starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon, ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. (each lunation is about 29.53 days).


In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, a date between January 21 and February 20.What happens :The period around Chinese New Year is also the time of the largest human migration, when migrant workers in China, as well as overseas Chinese around the world travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year’s eve. More interurban trips are taken in mainland China in this 40-day period than the total population of China.No need to say how long the lines are to buy a ticket for public transport … IF you even manage to buy one.What else happens :

• Very important is that Chinese should SPEND money during this period! Everyone is supposed to buy a whole new set