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Ming and Qing Elegance Redefined

TRADITIONAL CHINA IN A CONTEMPORY SETTING

Today's fashions increasingly embrace simplicity and purity of line. No wonder, then, that Ming dynasty (1368-1644) furniture is experiencing a resurgence. Produced during what was considered to be the golden age of Chinese furniture, Ming's clean classic lines and architectural elegance are coveted by collectors prepared to pay vast sums for rare, highly grained and intricately constructed pieces. "It is the timelessness of Chinese classical furniture which places it in the forefront of modern tastes," says Hong Kong-based premier Ming dealer Grace Wu Bruce.

But it wasn't always like this. While Ming's famous blue and white porcelain has long been highly valued in China and the West, the almost unbelievable thing about the dynasty's furniture is that it has only been considered collectable during the past few decades. The breakthrough came with a detailed study on Ming furniture published in Beijing in 1986 by the renowned scholar Wang Shixiang, which captured the attention of Chinese collectors.

Before that, Ming furniture had only been recognized by Westerners who lived in Beijing before the 1949 Communist revolution and a small group of connoisseurs in the West. They appreciated its Bauhaus-like lines over the flashier, ornate and heavily carved furniture typical of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Although some early Qing pieces feature clean lines, from the mid-Qing period (around 1736), sumptuous carvings, bright lacquering and inlay were common. Splendour and massiveness were the order of the day.

When China's doors closed, the Westerners left and took their furniture with them. Outside China, interest in the genre remained constant. Then came China's economic liberalization in the late 1970s and the market for Ming furniture began to grow dramatically.

Ming furniture's basic structure possesses distinctly classical attributes. Restraint, balance, clarity and grandeur are seen in a system of assembly that relies solely on joinery without the use of nails. Other features are economy of line, lustrous surfaces, and colour and grain of woods such as huanghuali (yellow rosewood), zitan (purple sandalwood) and jichi mu (chicken wing wood). However, Ming is not just aesthetically pleasing to the modern eye: it also provides an understanding of Chinese culture during an affluent era and offers glimpses into the sophisticated lifestyle of the scholar officials and wealthy merchants of the 16th and 17th centuries. Many lived a quietly ordered life, pursuing artistic and intellectual interests. The scholars preferred plain wood furniture to that featuring Chinese decorative techniques, although some examples of the latter are found in this period.

Private collectors around the world enjoy the thrill of living with these special pieces. But as classical hardwood furniture becomes increasingly rare and expensive, more experts are turning to softwood furniture and re-evaluating its position in the domestic environment. Hence, country style Chinese furniture made from elmwood, cedarwood and camphor wood has become more popular. In addition, light, strong, durable bamboo is making a comeback in the home. China is known as the kingdom of bamboo as it has the most species of any country (more than 400) and for centuries it has been used for furniture, baskets and mats.

For those who like the look of Ming but don't have the financial resources needed to live with the real thing, there is a vast amount of reproduction Ming furniture around. It may not have the aura-or the value-of the antique, but can, if the quality is high, be exceptionally beautiful. Such streamlined, sculptural pieces fit perfectly into a modern decorative scheme.

A Scholar's Office

The owner of this Beverly Hills office has on interest in · Chinese decorative art, with particular emphasis on Six Dynasties (220- 589) ceramics. With this in mind he chose to surround himself with Chinese furniture and accessories which could be enjoyed during the working day.

To enhance the collection of predominantly hong mu furniture in this office, the interior was pointed a deep turquoise which belies the bright Southern Californian sunshine outside. It is a worm, cocoon-like space, condusive to concentration. The furniture includes a spindle-back settee, four horseshoe armchairs and a desk featuring a crocked ice pattern (often seen in window designs in Ming architecture).

The wooden ceiling and wall mouldings were stained to match the owner's huanghuali table and document box. On the table is a 15-piece collection of Northern Wei dynasty (386- 534) tomb musicians. Such tomb figures were port of the elaborate burial rites practised by Chino's Imperial families. Burial customs adhered to the belief that the spirit of the deported must be provided with all that he or she possessed, or would have liked to possess, in earthly life. Ceramic figures from this time are characterized by on inclusion of detailing which helped make the models look more realistic. In so doing they provide a rich legacy of what Imperial life was like in ancient times.

With its clean, architectural lines, built-in bookshelves hugging the walls and refined classic air, this serene working environment is a successful contemporary adaptation of the traditional Chinese scholar's study.

The furniture of this office was sourced from antiques dealer Nicholas Grindley in London; there is a 19th-century hong mu desk with cracked ice design and a set of four horseshoe armchairs (three pictured) dressed with stylish contemporary padded cushions for extra comfort. O n the wall is a pair of ancestor portraits, purchased in Hong Kong, which look down over the modern day business proceedings. At the end of the room is a spindle-back settee, also made of hong mu.

Light filters into the office through three large windows shielded with blinds. The wooden ceiling and floor mouldings have been stained in the same shade as the huanghuali document box (on the marble coffee table) and the huanghuali table, which hosts a 15-piece group of seated tomb musicians from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). The calligraphy brush set and rack was a gift and is merely decorative.

A Personal Passion

Famed Asian art dealer and collector Robert Hatfield Ellsworth lives in the largest single-floor apartment on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in New York City. Some say that the impressive 20-plus roomed space-which takes up 1,280 sq m (13,780 sq ft)-resembles a grand American museum of the best of Chinese art. But Ellsworth is keen to point out that he sees it as a bachelor pad that is very much lived in. "The furniture and furnishings have been in the same place since I moved in, but it is not a museum setting. It is very much a home," he explains, adding that the apartment is at its best when it is filled with 150 people, all having a good time.

Ellsworth moved here in 1977 and spent a year totally restoring the apartment back to its original format, which included the tiling in the kitchens and pantries The block was built in 1929, the year of his birth, which was, he says, "a happy coincidence". The expansive space has been filled with Southeast Asian bronzes, sculpture and · paintings, his special passions. "Someone once wrote of my home that it was the only apartment big enough in town to accommodate my ego," says Ellsworth, happily agreeing that this is probably true.

Distinguished in his field, Ellsworth, now 71, is an adviser to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and in 1993 was made an honorary Chinese citizen as result of his preservation. work on Ming dynasty buildings in Anhui province. He is also the author of a number of books, including Chinese Furniture. Hardwood Examples of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, published in 1971.

In a corner of the living room is a Japanese screen which dates from the late 16th century and depicts the Imperial horse stables. The carpet is late 17th-century Chinese and the pair of huanghuali horseshoe back chairs are part of a set of four 17th-century pieces.

The panelling in the entrance hall is original and is made of Georgia pine, the most popular timber for panelling when the apartment was built in 1929. The carpet with dragon motif was not woven for the floor; it would have been wound around a pillar in an Imperial palace hall. When the two sides join the dragon's body becomes complete. The painting is from a set of 20th-century Chinese paintings; the rest, over 90 of them, are hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not far from Ellsworth's home.

The impressive dining room table was one of the first types of mechanical furniture ever built and features a 0.25-m (10-in) flap all around. This can be folded down so the table becomes nearly half a metre (1.5 ft) smaller. In the middle is a ' Lazy Susan' on which stands a Worcester china pot, part of a collection. The pair of 17th-century Chinese cabinets is made of huanghuali and camphor woods.

A 10th-century Chinese wood sculpture of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, the most popular deity in Chinese Buddhism. It was found in a Chinese temple.

Looking through the living room into the dining room: flanking the door is a pair of mountain landscapes by Fu Boo Shih, 1940. The large figure on the left is 12th-century Japanese; the Chinese carpet is late 17th century/ early 18th century. The barrel stool in the foreground is made of laohuali, a type of rosewood. Such stools were originally made of bamboo, hence their shape. The top is marble-"very good as it doesn't leave stains when people put their drinks down on them," notes the owner.

An impressive 11th-century North Italian lion guards the entrance hall.

The New Mandarin Style

As a scholar, patron and collector of Chinese furniture and art, Koi-Yin Lo pours her energies into broadening the understanding of Chinese culture around the world. Although perhaps best known as a jewellery designer, she is also the author of a number of books on Chinese art and culture.

Lo is interested not only in furniture's aesthetic properties but also in how it would have been displayed and used at the time. Her private collection, which incorporates both classical and vernacular furniture, is testament to her design eye (with its well-honed sense of proportion and line) Although most of her collection has been loaned to museums, such as Singapore's Asian Civilisations Museum, her Hong Kong home brims with a remarkable collection of furniture and artifacts.

Lo believes that vernacular pieces can hold their own in terms of look, appeal and interest. In her Mid-Levels apartment, she uses luxurious textures and pole colours as a backdrop to display impressive pieces, such as a pair or 18th-century northern elmwood and burlwood compound cabinets from Beijing; a rare 18th-century cedarwood low platform in three pieces from jiangnan; and a pair of 17thor 18th-century window lattice panels from Suzhou decorated with carved persimmons.

Her sense of design also comes into ploy through creative interpretations of traditional Chinese style and she mixes and matches with panache Song dynasty figures stand alongside Ming ceremonial tablets; jade, coral and gemstones hang from cupboard locks; and her own-design Buddhist knots of destiny make on interesting table centre-piece. All have clean lines, toning colours and a modern presentation, lending the antique collections a modern air.

Clean lines, lack of ornamentation and a subtle colour scheme characterize Kai-Yin La's living room (right), where Chinese art is hung on the walls with architectural precision. A pair of window panels (one shown here) features the persimmon in a four-petal design. "One of the earliest plant motifs used in China, the persimmon dates more than l,800 years to the Han dynasty," she says. On a Ming side table at the back of the room is a pot filled with 200-year-old fungus called lingzhi found in Anhui province.

A pair of 19th-century compound cabinets in yu mu (northern elmwood) and hua mu (burlwood) stand tall at the end of the living room (left). Traditional Chinese houses were not constructed with closets so cabinets and chests of different sizes were used for storage. This pair of cabinets would have been used as wardrobes; today they have been lined with fabric and fitted with lighting. When the doors open they function as display cabinets for part of Lo's ceramic collection. The table between the cabinets is covered with an opium mat; on top stands a Ju Ming sculpture. The painting on the wall is of the Grand Canyon and is by Wu Guanzhong, known for his exciting contemporary work. Wu exhibited at the British Museum in 1992, the first time the museum held a one-man show for a living artist.

On the miniature display table in the living room is a collection of Lo's own designs, including Buddhist knots of destiny made of jade, ivory, wood and porcelain.

On a table stand Song dynasty figures and three Ming ceremonial tablets housed in brush pots.

18th-19th century Beijing glass pendants make attractive door pulls on a bamboo cabinet.

A pair of sofas dressed in pale textured fabrics stand in the centre of Kai-Yin Lo's living room, defining the seating area in the flowing, open plan space. Recessed and spot lighting illuminate her extensive collection of Chinese art and furniture. A low platform functions as a coffee table; it was originally one of the earliest types of raised seating in China. This rare piece dates from the 18th century and is made of nan mu (a variety of cedarwood). It is constructed of three modular sections which can function as a single platform (pictured here), or used separately as smaller seats, stands or low tables. On top is a miniature Ming display table featuring a collection of Buddhist knots of destiny. A silk padded screen, featuring artworks in ink and colour, shields the dining room from the living area. A 3rd-century Gandhara Buddha from the Indus Valley stands serenely in the entrance hall.

An Eclectic Mix

Softwood furniture mode from northern elm (nu mu), southern elm (ju mu), cedar (nan mu) and camphor (zhang mu) woods is on increasingly popular choice for contemporary living. Through the centuries, these woods were available in many of Chino's regions and were used widely to produce vernacular furniture. As classical hardwood furniture such as huanghuali becomes increasingly rare and expensive, more and more experts are turning to softwood furniture to reevaluate its position in the domestic environment of the time.

Chunky, country-style furniture fills the Singapore home of Michael Fiebrich and David Hoss, who are both avid collectors of Chinese antiques. Their three-bedroom, 167 sq m (1,800 sq ft) colonial bungalow built in the 1920s is a typical 'block and white', a term used to describe such buildings whose structural elements were typically pointed block and the panels white, in the Jacobean manner.

Fiebrich and Hoss chose their home because of its large garden and mature trees which offered total privacy and peaceful views. "Although we both love to entertain, the house and garden are on escape from demanding careers and busy travel schedules," explains Fiebrich. "So we surrounded ourselves with strong but simple pieces of furniture that reflect the calm, comfortable mood of the house."

An antique country style cabinet acts as a sturdy bedside table.

The Chinese pieces in their home are on interesting mix of styles, put together from years of travel throughout Asia. "We particularly enjoy combining Western and Asian pieces although as the years go by the house slowly becomes more and more Chinese in flavour. " These include a whimsical antique bamboo kitchen cabinet in the entrance hall, a large red lacquer wedding cabinet which odds regal splendour to the master bedroom, and on ornate carved and gilded canopy bed which provides a strong focal point and contrasts well with the interior's muted fabrics and colour scheme.

Balancing the furniture is a light-hearted combination of accessories, including a terracotta elephant from a Shanghai flea market, a traditional bamboo ladder from a local Singapore hardware store and a Texas longhorn skull hanging on the wall in the bedroom. They provide warmth and visual interest. "There is a peaceful simplicity to the pieces that allows them to blend well with a contemporary interior," says Fiebrich. "The strong colours and textures as well as the chunky scale of the Chinese country furniture give them on almost modern feel."

The strong lines of a large Qing dynasty cabinet dominate the living room; resting against the wall is a bamboo ladder which was found in a local Singapore hardware store. Accessories such as the red lacquer box and antique ivory vase have a rich patina of age and add colour and texture to the room.

"Its heavy scale and blocky proportions add a modern simplicity to the room," says Michael Fiebrich of the late Qing cabinet in the living room. On top are two lamp bases made from antique balustrades taken from an old Singapore shophouse. The ceramic dragon planter on the floor was selected for its rich, dark colour and pattern.

In the master bedroom, a red lacquer wedding cabinet purchased in Singapore adds regal colour to the room and contrasts well with the white walls and white-tiled floor. It has been juxtaposed with a Western Texas longhorn skull mounted above.

Lighthearted touches add to the relaxing feel of the interior. An antique bamboo kitchen cabinet is placed at the entrance to the living room. On the circular table in the foreground is a terracotta elephant found in a flea market in Shanghai.

This antique Qing dynasty canopy bed is a favourite piece and was purchased locally in Singapore. "It not only offers a restful perch for reading or napping but its ornate carved and gilded frame gives a strong focal point in the living room and adds a nice contrast to the simple fabrics and colours used elsewhere in the room," says Fiebrich.

Classical Precision

The London pied-a-terre of a prominent Hong Kong family features a modern, minimalistic interior furnished entirely with classic Chinese furniture. The four-storey house in Chelsea is on exercise in restraint, with ordered groupings of furniture inside a series of rooms accessed by a central staircase.

An intricate, late Ming huanghuali canopy bed fits neatly into on alcove in a corridor; a formal grouping of four horseshoe back choirs surrounds a table in the white walled dining room; and a clean-lined Ming canopy bed with built-in back is positioned adjacent to a gloss wall overlooking the stairwell. In every area of this home, precision is key.

Recessed spotlights throughout highlight the worm, lustrous woods and extraordinary craftsmanship that make up each piece of furniture. The use of natural materials-such as wood and travertine marble flooring, silk carpets and dashes of bold soft furnishings-serve to offset the museum quality feel of the space Here, the architectural lines of the interior and the furniture combine to produce a serene, quiet and intelligent decorative scheme.

Floor-to-ceiling glass panels overlooking a central stairway help open up the interior of this four-storey London house. In the living room, things are kept architecturally minimal with white walls, a pale wood floor and spot lighting. The clean-lined approach is maintained with select pieces of pared-down antique furniture. A Ming luohan chuang (couch bed) -which would have originally been used for relaxation, meditation or conversation, often moved onto a terrace or into a garden to enjoy nature from-stands against the rear wall; to the left is a carved candlestand.

The minimal dining room showcases four huanghuali horse-shoe armchairs. Against the rear wall stands a sloping stile wood-hinged cabinet. The travertine marble floor heightens the industrial feel of the space.

An impressive Ming dynasty canopy bed with decorative latticework stands in the corridor leading to the internal stairwell. Such beds would have been placed in alcoves and used not only for sleeping but also for leisure, study and household tasks during the day. Typically, they would have been draped with fabric to suit the season-silk or cotton for the winter months; gauze netting in the summer to allow breezes to filter through.

Designer Ming

"People ask me, is this modern? But it is 400 years old. It really does transcend not only time, but also place," says Grace Wu Bruce, with reference to the premier quality Ming furniture which fills her Hang Kong home.

The internationally renowned Ming furniture collector and dealer has a passion for the genre that she loves to share. With galleries in Hong Kong and London, she admits to a love affair with the furniture that has never decreased in intensity "I came upon Ming furniture by accident and from the beginning I was smitten."

Proof that Ming's subtle elegance blends harmoniously with 21st-century interiors can be found in her spacious apartment with its bold yellow and red walls, colourful Iranian carpets and lush fabrics, which complement the rich huonghuoli wood furniture On the walls hang an impressive collection of traditional calligraphy (the highest form of art in China), whose visual beauty and rhythm is clear even to those unaware of the cultural contexts and meanings inherent in the writing.

A driving force behind much of the work to increase public knowledge of Ming furniture, Wu Bruce combines her work and home lives. "I was probably one of the first of my generation (Chinese) to collect Ming, " she says. "My own collection and work are intricately tied up with the development of Ming furniture in the field "

The fine architectural proportions and pure designs of Ming furniture are perfectly portrayed in this pair of sloping stile wood hinged cabinets from the 16th-17th century. "They are particularly beautiful because the door panels have matching grains, so were appreciated by connoisseurs of the period and once again by collectors," says Wu Bruce. The fan paintings above are by Chen Pei Qiao; the gold and blue calligraphy scroll is by premier calligrapher Qi Gong of Beijing. Wu has installed a groove around the false ceiling, which houses a flexible hanging system for her artworks so they can be moved around easily, usually according to the season.

"Rocks are treasured by Chinese collectors as objects of art," explains Wu. "They symbolize nature and can be brought inside so one can contemplate nature indoors." This malachite stone from Shilu Mountain (above, detail) is an impressive example.

A classic 16th-century Ming lute table stands against the far wall; it would have been an important part of the scholar's accoutrements of the time. Calligraphy is regarded as the highest form of art in China and Wu Bruce has a spectacular collection. Hanging behind the lute table is a 16th-17th-century scroll by Zheng Da Qian which depicts the lone scholar in the mountains. The pair of calligraphy couplets are by early 20th-century calligrapher Lin San Zhi; they refer to furniture. In the foreground, a dash of contemporary style is added with colourful Iranian rugs. The extremely heavy yellow wax 'Lashi' stone symbolizes nature being brought inside.

In the warm, red-walled hallway hangs a dramatic, abstract painting by grandmaster of modern art, Wu Guangzhong.

Exquisite huanghuali Ming dynasty pieces may feature in every room, but this is also an interior meant for comfort and relaxation. In the feminine master bedroom, a Ming bed has been dressed in the manner of a Western four poster with swagged fabrics and piped detailing. "I find colour is a good balance for my life," says Wu Bruce, explaining that in her galleries she goes to the other extreme and uses a stark, all-white palette to show off the furniture's architectural lines. Both decorative approaches are equally valid. " I have the gallery in the day and home in the evening. It is perfect for me."

A Love of Order

A fondness for Chinese furniture and a desire for ordered living come together in this pre-war apartment in New York's Upper East Side. The quietly elegant space comprises a large entrance hall from which the library, living room and dining room lead off The owner, who at one time was in the antiques business, has on elegant collection of Ming and Qing pieces, sourced by premier London-based dealer Nicholas Grindley.

The owner's preference for formality is echoed in the interior's decorative pion. Clean lines, a sense of symmetry and a logical arrangement of furniture are the perfect foil for the elegant Chinese pieces housed here. But this is no impersonal showcase: understated colours and textures have been used to bring warmth to the space and enhance the classical modern feel. The spacious light grey entrance hall features a large reproduction carpet based on a 17th-century Chinese design, celodon-coloured walls in the dining room offset the herringbone parquet floor; and grey green pointed walls odd visual interest in the living room and library.

Clever combinations of Ming furniture and Western modernist designs are positioned throughout this apartment: a group of 1950s Italian glassware sits on a 17th-century huonghuoli Ming cabinet; a Ruhlmann desk is juxtaposed with a mid 19th-century Chinese drum stool and a Brice Marden print; and a Ming everted altar table has a Georg Boselitz drawing hanging above. They may be from different eras and cultures but these carefully selected pieces celebrate the skill of the craftsman and the value of a logical approach to design.