Magnificent antique furniture

Chinese furniture items such as chairs, tables, beds and cupboards from the Ming & Qing dynasties are known to be exquisitely designed and magnificently made by very talented craftsmen. They were made from a variety of hard woods such as the Huang Huali, black Zitan and red wood. Looking at these elegant furniture items, you've got to admire the skills and talents of their makers.

The cost of these hard woods has increased tremendously over the years due to shortage of trees and hence raw materials. These trees need a few hundred years to grow to the size required for furniture making. Scarcity in raw materials also drives the price of hard wood furniture.

The hard wood was elegantly made into chairs of classic designs. The Ming dynasty chairs are simple in design yet the outward appearance is truly magnificent. The line contour of the Ming chair is unique and can be easily recognised. The Qing dynasty chairs, on the other hand, are more complex with delicate carvings and decorations.

Ming dynasty chair



Prime minister's chair

A special type of chair was popular among the emperors of the Qing dynasty. They are called the deer-horns chairs as they were made from the horns of  deers. Why would people want to make chairs from horns? This had to do with their customs. Manchurian people were hunters. So when they ruled China during the 18th century, the emperors would take his children and generals to a hunting field (to remind them of their humble beginning) where everyone tried to outshine the other by show off his hunting skills. It is said that when Qianlong emperor hunted a few deers, he had an idea. As the horns looked strong and elegant, why not made a chair out of these horns. Immediately he ordered his craftsmen to make a chair using the horns of the deers he had killed. The next time he went hunting, he would bring along this chair for resting.



Chair made from deers' horns

Since the 90s, there is a craze for antique furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Some of the Ming and Qing chairs are fiercely bided during auctions. Auction prices of tens of millions are not uncommon. Collectors don't mind paying high prices for these items due to the rich history and culture behind them.

Some businessmen caught on this idea. With the ever diminishing supply of good hard wood, they went to the island of Hainan to look for new source of raw materials. As there were no more big trees, they would go to the farmers' houses and check if the beams and columns of these wooden houses were made of the hardwood (usually Huang Huali) they wanted. If they found what they wanted, they would pay the farmers and had the beams and columns removed and shipped back to their factory. From these beams and columns, they would make into classic Ming and Qing furniture. Someof these exquisite made furniture items can fetch millions of RMB in furniture trade. Over time, the price of this wood (from harmers' houses) increased from a few RMB a kg to several thousands RMB per kg.

If you go to Hainan these days, you are sure to bump into street vendors selling all types of wood products form raw wooden blocks to carved items. It seems that in the world of collecting, anything and everything is valuable as long as there is a market.