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A Beijing auction will showcase huanghuali, a prized hardwood with a rich history in ancient Chinese furniture, Deng Zhangyu reports.
Huanghuali wood, which comes from a tree species that needs 500 years to fully grow, is rare in the markets and most collectors refuse to sell it. A Dec 4 auction, however, will present 29 pieces of furniture made from the precious wood, which has long been prized in Chinese culture and has become popular in the Western world during the last century.
Furniture made by the wood - a type of rosewood also called "yellow flowering pear" - used to be exclusive to the imperial families and the superrich in China from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The number of antique furniture pieces made of huanghuali and sandalwood in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is said to be about 10,000, according to Hai Yan, a writer and the chair of the board of directors of Hotel Kunlun. About 70 percent are in the hands of foreign collectors, but a fine collection of classic pieces has recently been added to the regular display at the National Museum of China.
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Available at an auction on Dec 4 in Beijing is a Guan Gong statue made of sandalwood (left) by Lin Qingcai; a round drum of the Li ethnic group (top) made of huanghuali; a chair (above) made of huanghuali and two cabinets (below) made of huanghuali. Photos Provided to China Daily |
Due to the scarcity of the wood, antique pieces can command colossal prices - up to tens of millions of yuan - and there's always demand for new furniture in Ming style made from the valuable wood, which can cost 1 million yuan for a 1-meter-long piece.
Thus, the auction to be held by Poly Auction and Dajiazhijia, a furniture company that in 1982 started collecting huanghuali, is getting lots of attention.
Hai Yan, also a huanghuali wood collector, says the auction offers a great chance for collectors to appreciate the beauty of the wood as well as the modern craftsmanship that makes the wood into art.
Tan Xiangdong, an expert on Chinese antique furniture, says: "The company has the largest reserve of huanghuali wood in China. The craftsmanship of their huanghuali furniture is close to that in the Ming Dynasty."
Going under the hammer are 29 pieces in Ming and Qing styles, a record-breaking number of its kind on auction. In 1999, artist Tian Jiaqing put six such pieces of his Ming-style furniture on auction, the first of its kind. Since then, the number of new huanghuali wood furniture pieces at auction is often small, usually less than 10.
Highlights of the auction are a pair of large cabinets made from one piece of wood and a long "horseshoe-legged" table. The starting price of the former is 3.6 million yuan and the latter is 700,000 yuan.
Lin Qingcai, president of the Fujian-based furniture company, says the price his company offers is lower than the market price and equals the cost of the wood. He wants more people to appreciate the beauty of craftsmanship instead of focusing on the wood itself.
Lin was born into a wood sculptor's family. His father's wood sculptures were placed at the Great Hall of the People in the 1950s. Lin himself was the first in China to be awarded the title of crafts and artisan master in wood sculpture.
Since 1996, Lin started collecting huanghuali to satisfy his strong interest in the wood that's mainly produced in Hainan province. Lin visited Hainan countless times, often collecting wood from village houses. He made friends with local people and showed them his passion for the wood to convince them to sell it to him.
In addition to a factory of wood sculptures, He also set up a private museum in Xianyou, Fujian province, to display the art and culture for people interested in hunaghuali.
Talking about his company's first large-scale auction of huanghuali furniture, Lin says it's more like a platform to spread the culture of the wood and Ming-style furniture since the wood is hard to find on the market.
The Ming-style furniture - simple and elegant - has greatly influenced the history of modern Western furniture. When foreign powers attacked China at the beginning of last century, Chinese furniture culture was also taken to the West, where many museums in Europe and the United States have collections.
Contact the writer at dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn
