The specialists guide to Chinese antiques.

May 11, 2010 7:16 am

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Reduced prices - Sale of gorgeous antique walnut alter tables, armoire, benches from Gansu province.

One of ACF’s local “inside suppliers”  wishes to liquidate his existing stock of restored antique walnut furniture from Gansu at reduced prices, as he is now dealing only in un-restored antiques. As an “inside supplier” this restorer does not normally sell directly to overseas customers and instead local furniture factories buy from him to then resell in their own warehouse at a premium. As he is one of the few people who specializes primarily in walnut furniture from Gansu province (halfway between Beijing and Tibet), this is an very unusual and rare opportunity to see such a large volume of walnut pieces in one single location. Normally factories will only have a few such pieces (which they likely purchased from him).

While not as costly as rosewood or Huali, walnut furniture is generally more expensive them Elm, Pine or Poplar and are generally sold at a higher premium. Availability has dropped and prices for walnut furniture have risen significantly over the past few years. Walnut is a much harder wood, more durable and longer lasting with a rich deep copper or caramel brown color with a nice grain and wonderful texture. Restorers also tend to use better brass hardware for walnut as the two colors compliment each other. Mostly from Western Gansu, styles are often understated, well balanced and elegant in their own right.

A few other things to know about this lot:

• ALL these pieces are antique (there are no vintage or reproduction pieces in this batch).
• Quality is quite good and all pieces are restored and ready to ship.
• With a very few exceptions 90% of the pieces are walnut and from Gansu.
• Not all items are pictured here (there is at least a 40 foot container).
• He also has a few rare items that are not seen very often.
• Sizes and proportions are very practical and usable.
• The flash on the camera tends to give everything more contrast and more yellow (note this).

Larger photos of the complete lot can be seen online at this address:

http://www.antique-chinese-furniture.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=254

For price list/additional details email me at roger at antique-chinese-furniture.com

This cabinet is best made from veneers or kiln dried wood

This cabinet which is intended to appear antique must be made from 100% solid reclaimed wood

A “pickled finish” applied to both a veneer and solid wood. Can you tell the difference?

Wood frame construction with MDF panels

This cabinet is best made with composites like MDF

Floating panel construction

Stacks of “burlwood” veneer ready to be used in furniture making

Related Reading:

The Practical Illustrated Guide to Furniture Repair and Restoration: Expert step-by-step techniques shown in 1000 color photographs

Popular Woodworking's Arts & Crafts Furniture: 25 Projects For Every Room In Your Home

The Complete Book Of Furniture Repair and Refinishing - Easy-To-Follow, Step-By-Step Directions for Repairing, refinishing and Maintaining All Types of Furniture - New or Antique

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

April 25, 2010 1:54 am

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Mystery: Are these Chinese oracle bones inscriptions carved on a tortoise shells?

Interesting recent find… The question is “what is it?” Are these oracle bones ( 甲骨 jiǎgǔ) ? And if so, why is  it not cracked? Or was this particular one simply used for practicing carving inscriptions? Or maybe even record keeping? Is this pictographs indeed an example of jiăgŭwén (oracle script) or is it seal script (小篆 Xiaozhuan /大篆Dazhuan)? What about clerical script (Li shu 隸書)?

According to the I-Ching, tortoise divination is one of the best method for making sense of the events. So, the very symbolism of the tortoise shell itself, would lead credence to the idea that this was used for some form of divination. Most popular and known for during the Shang dynasty, documented cases show this practice continued up until the Qing Dynasty though less frequently. Personally I would guess this example is Ming. But as I said, your guess is as good as mine…

If anyone wants to dig-in to what it says, Harmen Mesker’s website has some fascinating Chinese character analysis topics.

Related Reading:

Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture and Accessories, C.1780-1920

Field Guide to Antique Furniture

Chinese Furniture: A Guide to Collecting Antiques

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

April 2, 2010 7:19 am

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How to avoid cracking and splitting in Chinese solid wood furniture

Lacquered Furniture? Then wood frame construction with MDF panels is probably the correct choice.

“Is that a crack?” About once a week, I am asked this question. Some of the times, its about furniture which has been purchased elsewhere. Other times its about our own furniture. It might have been custom made or simply the customer purchased it from from a moving sale.  Some pieces might have traveled the globe and eventually landed in a dry climate – a once beautiful stable piece, is now turning into a cracking, splitting mess.  But rest assured, at least once a week, I am asked this question.

Solid wood/old wood vs. veneer and composites

When making furniture, the first question one must ask is, do you want solid wood or are composite woods also acceptable.

Solid wood furniture is strong, long lasting and can be re-sanded, re-finished and re-stained for years to come. That’s the good news. The bad news is, this comes at a price. Since wood is a natural, living, breathing material, it therefore has a tendency to swell / shrink, warp and/or  crack as it ages, in relation to environmental changes in temperature and humidity.  In door environments, in particular modern homes where dry electric heat is used, will accelerate this process.  If the furniture is painted or lacquered, this presents an even bigger problem as the lacquer covering the outer surface will crack (often badly) when the wood underneath expands and contracts.

Reclaimed wood waiting to be used in furniture making

One way furniture makers attempt to compensate for this by using aged wood and reclaimed wood. While all wood, including old wood continues to breathe and change,  unlike new wood, old wood has (theoretically) already reached its critical drying point over many, many years. Unfortunately access to reclaimed wood depends on the supply of old wood (often from buildings) which may not always be available in large quantities. Aged wood may also have a certain amount of dents, nicks and other characteristics that come along with age. And because its still real wood, this means it will still breath and change to some extent.

A second method of compensation is by using air dried or kiln-dried wood. Air dried wood, which has been exposed to outside air for extended periods of time, is often harder, though tends to have a higher moisture content and may take months or even years to dry. Kiln dried wood can be ready to use in under a month, but is softer as the artificial heating process stops the wood from naturally hardening any further.  The heating process may also cause defects in the wood such as the “honey comb effect.”  Unfortunately many smaller factories do not have kilns as the process is costly and requires specialized technical expertise. Even large modern factories shipping 200 containers a month may find running their kilns to be expensive and technical. Therefore because Kiln dried wood must be either pre-purchased or sent out for drying, air drying is the most common method in use for smaller workshops.

Stacks of "burlwood" veneer ready for use in furniture making

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

March 30, 2010 7:53 am

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Chinese vase valued at €150 sells for €110,000 at auction

“I have a lot of people approach me with inquires about selling porcelain collections they have either inherited or amassed over the years. I am guessing this might be one of the reasons why:”

THE OWNERS of a Chinese imperial vase which sold for €110,000 at a Co Laois auction on Tuesday – a record-breaking price for ceramics at an Irish antiques sale – plan to sell the remainder of an inherited collection of oriental porcelain.

While the Co Carlow family wish to retain strict anonymity, the auctioneers acting on their behalf said they were unaware of the vase's historical significance and its value when it was consigned for sale. The family did not attend the auction and missed seeing the vase sell for 1,000 times its estimated value.

Durrow-based auctioneers Sheppards said the owners were "shocked but also delighted and chuffed" by the sale. They were also coming to terms with the potential value and importance of the remaining items in the collection.

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

March 24, 2010 8:59 am

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A pair of late 18th to early 19th century Qing dynasty Chinese Nanmu compound cabinets

• Item: A pair of late 18th to early 19th century Qing period Chinese compound cabinets
• Region: Shanxi Province in Northern China
• Materials: Nanmu (楠木 – Phoebe) and Chicken Wing wood  (鸡翅木) *
• Price: 60,000 to 80,000 Chinese RMB (SOLD) **
  
• Condition: Purchased un-restored. Minimal restoration. New hardware. Carvings likely replaced after being defaced during the cultural revolution.

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

March 24, 2010 8:59 am

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A pair of late 18th to early 19th century Qing dynasty Chinese Nanmu compound cabinets

• Item: A pair of late 18th to early 19th century Qing period Chinese compound cabinets
• Region: Shanxi Province in Northern China
• Materials: Nanmu (楠木 – Phoebe) and Chicken Wing wood  (鸡翅木) *
• Price: 60,000 to 80,000 Chinese RMB (SOLD) **
  
• Condition: Purchased un-restored. Minimal restoration. New hardware. Carvings likely replaced after being defaced during the cultural revolution.

Click here to continue on to our site and read the rest of this article…

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

February 4, 2010 8:32 am

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ACF China in the New York Times

Pretty neat. If anyone can pick up a copy for me it would be much appreciated as I have yet to see in print.

Reactionaries? Make That 'Collectors'

By DAN LEVIN Published: February 3, 2010
Original article online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/garden/04chinese.html 

TREASURE HUNT A worker at the ACF China furniture factory with a refurbished trunk.

CONTESTANT No. 3, a portly man in suspenders named Cui Xiaosong, clutched a golden mallet and gulped like an executioner having second thoughts. As a guest on China's wildly popular antiques reality show "Collection World," Mr. Cui knew he might have to get violent before the next commercial break. The victim? A delicately painted vase he had brought to the show, which he believed to be from the Qing dynasty and worth about $30,000.

"If it's a fake, will you smash it?" asked the program's white-gloved host, Wang Gang, as Mr. Cui faced the studio audience and three guest judges.

Mr. Cui nodded. The audience quieted down and Mr. Wang used the final minute to impart a bit of wisdom about collecting antiques in modern-day China: "Just as China opened up, so too is collecting about opening the mind to understand the outside world."

It was hard to tell whether Mr. Cui was listening, but he certainly heard the host announce the judges' verdict: "It's a modern reproduction!"

Mr. Cui winced as he swung the mallet, shattering the vase — and with it his dreams of the wealth it might have brought at auction. Cue the instant replay.

Some four decades after the Cultural Revolution, when many of the country's centuries-old treasures were defaced or destroyed as a result of Mao's command to eradicate "the four olds" — old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits — China has reversed its attitude toward antiques. Ming dynasty porcelain vases, 19th-century hardwood furniture and even early 20th-century calligraphy ink pots have become popular status symbols for an emerging middle class eager to display its new wealth and cultural knowledge. The antiques market has become so hot, in fact, that it has given rise to a new category of must-see TV here.

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