The history of Chinese furniture includes intricate lacquered and inlaid pieces, as well as simple, classic hardwood items of functional beauty

1. A WALK THROUGH A FEW HIGH POINTS OF
CHINESE FURNITURE-MAKING

2. SIMPLE FURNITURE
• The oldest Chinese illustrations of daily life
depict simple but distinctive furnishings:
mats and low beds and tables. Other types
of furniture were created—lap desks, altar
tables, and low platforms—but the mat
remained the focal point. More vertical and
elaborate carvings and ornamentation
emerged over time as well.

3. BUDDHISM'S INFLUENCE
After the introduction of Buddhism from India
during the Han dynasty around 150 CE, the
craft of Chinese furniture developed
exponentially. Buddhist culture brought more
formalized and ornate styles for seating and
storage.
Few scholars have conducted systematic
historical studies about the history of furniture
in China, so dating individual pieces is difficult.
However, a general stroll through the
centuries reveals key types of craftsmanship.

4. SIMPLICITY AND INTRICACY
• Throughout Chinese history, there are two
main categories of culturally significant
furniture: plain hardwood items and
lacquered pieces. The lacquered pieces tend
to be intricately carved or inlaid with sheets
of mother-of-pearl.
• The origins of the lacquered pieces are
almost unknown. It’s sometimes possible to
date these pieces from the types of
background motifs shown—for example,
peonies, long-tailed pheasants, dragons, or
good-luck bats.

5. RED AND BLACK LACQUER
Black lacquer pieces, with mother-of-pearl inlay,
are among the signature types in the history of
Chinese furniture. Black lacquer pieces from
eighth-century China are today preserved in
Japan’s imperial registry.
Red lacquer tables and seats dating from the
Ming period (1368 – 1644 AD) are also notable.
The craftsmanship on these pieces is flowing,
lively, and soft-edged. During the Qing dynasty
(1644 – 1912 AD), Chinese red lacquer furniture
took on a more stolid, solidified look. All had a
notable influence on European design.

6. ROSEWOOD – A RARE, SATINY FINISH
Rosewood has been a popular material for
Chinese carved furniture for centuries. “Hongmu”
means “red wood,” and Chinese cabinetmakers
have fashioned this type of rosewood into
exquisite pieces dancing with dragons and other
symbolic images.
Hongmu rosewood is among the world’s most
exquisite hardwood materials. It is lightweight but
structurally sound and weather-resistant even in
tropical conditions, rich in resins and oils, and
exhibits a fine grain.

7. CONSTRUCTION METHODS
Because rosewood is so strong and yet pliant
enough for fine carving work, craftsmen were
able to shape pieces and assemble them with
only traditional joinery and doweling rather than
nails or glue.
Today, rosewood furniture has flooded Chinese
and foreign markets due to consumer demand.
Some experts decry the mass production
techniques that make the wood an increasingly
rare commodity.
Most solid-wood Chinese furniture historically
has a light, elegant look, with the animal figures
and symbols carved from it offering a fluid, airy
appeal.

8. THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM’S TREASURY
San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum boasts
one of the world’s largest collections of
art from the continent. The museum
devotes extensive gallery space to its
Chinese furniture collection.
Curators note that, throughout history,
most Chinese furniture for upper-class
use was lacquered, with lacquering being
a sign of social status.

9. MING DYNASTY
The museum’s collections offer plenty
of examples of lacquered furniture,
including Ming cabinets decorated in
brown, black, amber, and gold
lacquering and depicting gatherings of
scholars, royal functions, or playful
pastimes, often outdoors against a
backdrop of mountains. The theme of
many of these decorations is the ideal
life in tranquility.

10. LACQUER PIECES
One of the museum’s signature lacquer
pieces (roughly 17th century) is a
cabinet with elegantly decorated
panels. Pheasants, symbols of wealth
and noble lineage, strut and preen in
the upper panels. Lower, officials of the
court congregate outdoors. Scrolling
images of fruits symbolizing abundance
flow around the edges.

11. DETAILED WITH MOTHER OF PEARL
Another fascinating piece in the Asian Art
Museum’s collection is a small, early Ming
dynasty table lacquered with mother-of-pearl. It
shows human figures gathered around the
Buddha in an outdoor setting filled with cranes,
deer, and trees. Each leg is adorned with elegant
scrolling floral motifs.
The museum’s collections also include a richly
ornate three-sided lacquered stand, carved and
inlaid with mother-of-pearl and covered in gold-
painted floral images. It dates from the Yuan
dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD) or the early Ming
period.

12. THE UNPRETENTIOUS BEAUTY OF HARDWOOD
In contrast to lacquered pieces, Chinese plain
hardwood furniture exemplifies a simpler style.
This type of relatively unadorned furniture is
another staple of Chinese design over
centuries.
The simplicity of Chinese hardwood furniture
has also won numerous fans in the West. The
“less-is-more” focus is all on exquisite
craftsmanship, flexible durability, purity of
outline, and a natural glow.

13. RARE COLLECTABLES
One example is this rare set of
four huanghuali horseshoe-back
armchairs from the Ming dynasty.
Huanghuali is a type of rosewood with
a warm, yellowish-red hue and sweet
aroma. In 2015, these particular chairs
were sold at auction by Christie’s— for
the highest auction price a piece of
huanghuali furniture has ever
commanded.

14. ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST DECORATIVE ARTS
Chinese furniture is undoubtedly one of the world’s finest categories of decorative
arts. To learn more and view fascinating pieces, browse the online collection at the
Asian Art Museum, lots sold at an extensive 2012 Christie’s auction, and pieces in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art.