Chinese Furniture

The international market for antique Chinese furniture is booming, and masterpieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties are now selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chinese Furniture is a survey of these collectibles--from the very best museum-quality hardwood pieces to standard softwood specimens still available at reasonable prices on the international market. Carpenters from this era were artisans. They elevated furniture from the functional to the realm of the philosophical. By artfully aligning wood grain patterns, experimenting with spatial dimensions, and innovating new forms of joinery, simple tables and chairs came to represent something higher--the harmony and union of man and nature. With its detailed historical overview and regional coverage, this book highlights the great diversity of antique Chinese furniture and serves as an indispensable guide to collectors, new and old.