The document discusses huanghuali wood, which comes from the rosewood family and was commonly used to make Chinese furniture during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Huanghuali wood has a yellow-brown coloration, shiny surface, and is lightweight yet resistant to damage. It was primarily sourced from Hainan Island off the coast of China. Examples of exquisite huanghuali furniture that have been collected in the West include 17th-18th century horseshoe-backed chairs and a small cabinet sold at Christie's auctions. One elaborate seven foot tall screen dating to the 17th century that was also auctioned at Christie's is now in a museum collection.

1. THE BEAUTY OF AUTHENTIC
HUANGHUALI FURNITURE

2. • The Chinese word for huanghuali, in its
literal sense, means “yellow flowering
pear” wood. The enriched coloration
and long-lasting strength of huanghuali
and other tropical hardwoods are a
large part of the reason that Ming (1368
- 1644 CE) and Qing (1644 - 1911 CE)
dynasty Chinese furniture pieces have
retained their beauty, luster, and
functionality hundreds of years later.

3. PROPERTIES OF
HUANGHUALI WOOD
• Botanically, the sweet-smelling huanghuali is a member
of the rosewood family. Its scientific name is Dalbergia
odorifera. In centuries past, huanghuali wood was
known simply as “hualu” or “huali.” By the beginning of
the 20th century, the term “huang,” which connotes a
yellow-brown color, was incorporated into the name to
better describe the appearance of older pieces of
huanghuali furniture.
• The surfaces of these pieces had, thanks to exposure to
light over time, settled into a yellowish tone. The color
of huanghuali wood pieces can range from a yellow-
brown hue through golden yellow and all the way to a
deep reddish brown.

4. PROPERTIES OF
HUANGHUALI WOOD
• Huanghuali has a shiny, glowing surface, with the naturally swirling
and knotted patterns of the wood’s grain giving each piece a distinct
appearance. Some of these images take the shape of spiral knots
called “guilian,” or “grimacing faces.” These can look very much like
“ghost faces,” and have traditionally been unusually prized among
collectors. Other huanghuali grain patterns resemble tiger stripes.
• Huanghuali is lightweight and resistant to cracking, warping, and
deformation, while still lending itself well to carving and shaping. The
range of furniture types that could be made from this beautifully-
scented wood made it a favorite of Ming and Qing scholars, writers,
aesthetes, and nobility. With age, this furniture becomes even more
lustrous and intensely fragrant. In fact, the refined but enduring
pieces made from huanghuali during these eras are the ideal of
classical Chinese furniture.

5. SOURCING HUANGHUALI WOOD
• Historians have used a number of sources to trace
references to the use of huanghuali wood in Chinese
furniture-making through time. They note references
to the traditional main source for the wood on
Hainan Island, which is modern China’s
southernmost province.
• Hainan has the kind of tropical climate that supports
the growth of hardwood trees of various types.
Before 1980, the wood’s scientific name was
Dalbergia hainanensis, reflective of this origin.
Huanghuali from Hainan has become so rare that
when a piece appears on the market, it tends to
cause an immediate sensation.

6. SOURCING
HUANGHUALI WOOD
• But the variety of color gradations, densities, and grain types
on display in huanghuali furniture also points to a variety of
geographic origins. These include the Chinese province of
Guangdong and the neighboring autonomous region of
Guanxi, which borders North Vietnam. It also grows in
Vietnam itself, other parts of Southeast Asia, and other
islands in the South China Sea.
• While there exist multiple species of huanghuali wood,
Dalbergia odifera from Hainan remains the most prized for
its unusually rich tonal colors, luster, and texture. This classic
type, frequently used during the Ming and Qing eras, has
low rates of production. This is due to the relatively small
part of the wood usable for furniture-making as well as its
slow growth patterns. As is the case with many other tropical
hardwoods, Dalbergia odifera takes hundreds of years to
reach maturity.

7. COLLECTING HUANGHUALI
FURNITURE
• Exquisite pieces of huanghuali furniture have reached Western
collectors over the years. These include, for example, a pair of golden-
brown horseshoe-backed chairs that date from the 17th or 18th century.
Sold through Christie’s auction house in 2014 for a sum well above their
estimated price, the chairs are characteristically simple in outline while
featuring elegant touches in their decorative carvings. Each features
unevenly aligned stepped stretchers, scroll-shaped cut woodwork, a
plain beaded apron (seat enclosure), and a curved and carved splat
(back panel).
• Another huanghuali piece in the same auction from roughly the same
era is a small-sized kang cabinet, or “kanggui.” This particular warm-
hued kanggui measures about 23 inches tall by about 15 inches wide
and 11 inches deep. Its top frame sweeps out over its body past its
corner posts. Its two vertically aligned figured doors open up to reveal
the shelves and drawers of its interior, and it additionally featured
attractive outward-facing metal hinges and patterned metal decor at
the center meeting point of its doors.

8. COLLECTING HUANGHUALI
FURNITURE
• One of the most sumptuous and elaborate huanghuali
pieces ever auctioned was sold in 1996 at a Christie’s
auction of items from a former museum collection. This
large-scale screen dating from the 17th century
measures seven feet in height and was the marquee
piece of the sale.
• It consists of a frame fashioned of huanghuali and tieli
(“iron” hardwood), elegantly and elaborately carved,
fretted, and pierced. In its center rests a slab of marble
whose subtly-swirling veined pattern evokes the image
of distant mountains. This piece—as is the case with
many other classic pieces of huanghuali—found its way
into another museum, in this case the Minneapolis
Institute of Art.