Historicaldocumentsdemonstratethatpre-Mingfurniture-makingwasalreadywelldevelopedbothinskillanddesign,butverylittlehassurvived.InthewordsoffamousantiqueappraiserWangShixiang,"ItisonlyfromtheMingandearlyQingtimesthatpiecesoffurnitureofhighqualitymaterialsandcraftsmanshiphavebeenpreservedinlargenumbers."
DuringthelateMingandearlyQingperiods,furnitureofaminimalclassicalstylewasabundantlyproducedindurabletropicalhardwoodsafterabanonimportswasliftedin1567.Theuseofhard,densewoodslikerosewoodspawnedadvancementsinjoinerytechniquespermittingthecreationofopen,elegantformspreviouslyunattainableinsofterwoods.
TheMingstyleantiqueChinesefurniture,wasthenrecognizedtheworldoverforitselegantsimplicityandmodernfunctionality,thepinnacleoffurniturecraftsmanship,andhasbeenconsideredasthemodelofChinesefurniture.
Characterizedbyasimpleandelegantstructurewithfluidlinesandappealingproportions,Mingfurnitureformedadistinctartisticstyleinitsshapes,simplelines,pleasingproportionsandatightmortiseandtenonstructure.Greatemphasiswasplacedontheuseofthenaturalbeautyofthewoodgraintogetherwithadoptinglatticeworkandopenworkcarving.Thissimpleclassicalstylehashelpedtoestablishitsfame.
Qingfurniture,inheritedthecharmoftheMingstyle,andaddedalottoit,creatinganewstyle.Qingfurnitureislargerandmoreimposingwithelaboratecarvingsandinlaiddecorations.WhileearlyQingfurniture-makersgenerallyheldtoclassicpatterns,atendencytowardsrefinementemergedcorrelatingtothatwhichpermeatedallofthedecorativearts.Qingemperors'fascinationwithantiquitystimulatedarchaisticdecorationandstylesinfurnituredesign.Qing-stylefurnitureismoreangularinform,andthesurfacesareoftenelaboratelydecorated.
Thesetwotypesoffurnituredifferedgreatlyinstylebuteachreachedahighlevelofartisticsuccessandcanclaimaplaceinthehistoryofworldfurniture.
AsmoreandmorepeoplediscoverthebeautyandenduringappealofChineseclassicalfurnitureandartforms,manystoressellingantiquefurniturehaveappeared.AstheMingandearlyQingtimesbecametheGoldenAgeofChinesefurniture,piecesfromthisperiodarehighlyvaluedantiquesandtodayarequitehardtofind.Oneauthenticpiececanbepriceduptomillionsofyuan.
Asreproductionisquitepopularintheindustry,itisnecessarytobeaconnoisseurtorecognizeandcollectsuchpieces.
(Xiao Changyan)
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