Chinese furniture
The forms of Chinese furniture evolved along three distinct lineages which date back to 1000 BC:[1] frame and panel, yoke and rack (based on post-and-rail seen in architecture) and bamboo construction techniques.
[2] Chinese furniture is mostly in plain, polished wood, but from at least the Song dynasty, the most luxurious pieces often used lacquer to cover the whole or parts of the visible areas.
All the various sub-techniques of Chinese lacquerware can be found on furniture, and became increasingly affordable down the social scale—thus widely used—from about the Ming dynasty onwards.
Carved lacquer furniture was, at first, only affordable by the imperial family or the extremely rich, but by the 19th century, it was merely very expensive, and mostly found in smaller pieces or as decorated areas on larger ones.
Not until very late historical periods, were cushions, textiles, and other forms of upholstery incorporated into Chinese furniture, impacted by Western culture.
The Ming period is regarded as the "golden age" of Chinese furniture, though very few examples of earlier pieces survive.
[3] High chairs, usually single ones, had existed as status symbols, effectively thrones, since at least the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BCE), but were not used with tables at the same level.
Buddhism, entering China around AD 200, brought with it the idea of (the Buddha) sitting upon a raised platform instead of simply mats.
The folding stool also proliferated similarly, after it was adapted from designs developed by nomadic tribes to the North and West, who used them for both their convenience and light weight in many applications such as mounting horses.
By the next two dynasties (the Northern and Southern Song) the use of varying types of furniture, including chairs, benches, and stools was common throughout Chinese society.
The use of thick lacquer finish and detailed engraving and painted decoration as well as pragmatic design elements would continue to flourish.
Significant foreign design influence would not be felt until increased contact with the West began in the 19th century, due to efforts on the part of the ruling elite to limit trade.
[4] During the Ming and Qing dynasties previous bans on imports were lifted, allowing for larger quantities and varieties of woods to flood in from other parts of Asia.
It attaches importance to the rationality of scale and curvature, which makes people feel comfortable while sitting on a hard wooden chair.
This special shape conforms to the characteristics of the human spine curve, allowing people to sit on their backs to rest and relieve fatigue.
Taking Ming dynasty furniture as an example, artistic symbolism reflects the philosophy of ancient Chinese culture.
Both the pleasing aesthetics and the symbolic meaning of Ming dynasty furniture contribute to advocating the Chinese style towards contemporary home furnishing.
Altogether, design of Ming dynasty furniture reflects people's pursuit of wealth, peace, harmony and rights.
[9] The materials used in inlay are varied, including enamel, bamboo, animal's horn or teeth, jade, stone, copper, etc.
Chinese furniture traditionally consisted of four distinct categories, all formed by the mid Qing dynasty, but each with its own unique characteristics.
[11] Classic Chinese furniture is typically made of a class of hardwoods, known collectively as "rosewood" (紅木, literally "red wood").
Hardwood like Huali Wood (花梨木) and Suanzhi (酸枝) are the most representative, and the price of the raw material spiked over the past decades.
There is a niche market for high-end collectors to appreciate traditional Chinese furniture not only for the timeless design but also the opportunity to invest or to show social status.
Construction of traditional wooden Chinese furniture is based primarily of solid wood pieces connected solely using woodworking joints, and rarely using glue or metallic nails.
The reason was that the nails and glues used did not stand up well to the vastly fluctuating temperatures and humid weather conditions in most of Central and Southeast Asia.
[18] Further, the oily and resinous woods used in Chinese furniture generally do not glue well, even when pre-cleaned with modern industrial solvents.
