Chinese Furniture. Karen Mazurkewich
elm but has a denser grain. It is a very strong timber that is resistant to dampness and insects, but its grain is unevenly textured and when dried it can develop large cracks.
Huamu or burl wood (also referred to as yingmu) is not a variety of wood, but rather is used to describe the tumor-like growths that bulge from trunks, or branches, and have a very distinctive grain pattern that resembles round curls. Certain species, such as camphor, elm and nanmu, are susceptible to burl growths. Burl nanmu wood is commonly used in furniture. But because shrinkage is unpredictable, it is used for table tops or cabinet doors and not employed for the main structural elements.
Huanghuali (Dalbergia odorifera) is considered the king of hard-woods. Prior to 1572, most furniture was made from indigenous softwood. The revision of trade policies in 1572, which permitted the importation of exotic timber from Southeast Asia, established the beginning of the hardwood furniture era. Much surviving furniture from the Ming dynasty and early Qing is made of huanghuali. It was seldom used after the mid-Qing period. This sought-after timber was favored for its color, which ranges from a honey to a purple brown, and its distinctive grain, which mimics the profile of a mountainous landscape. Its density also enabled carpenters to create complex but sturdy joints and fine carving. Huanghuali—now only found in parts of Vietnam—came from the genus Dalbergia, a type of tropical rosewood found in North Vietnam and Hainan Island in China. Although use of this wood dates back to the fifth century, it did not become popular until the mid-Ming dynasty. The wood was originally known simply as huali or “flowering pear” and the prefix huang (yellowish brown) was added in the early twentieth century to describe the old huali wood that had a yellowish patina due to aging.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, no distinction was made between huanghuali, laohuali and hongmu—terms now used by many dealers. Laohuali is still botanically classified within the same genus, but because it has a coarser grain and many small knots, it is now believed to be from an inferior group of timber or a sapwood. Hongmu (also known as blackwood), is dark brown and less vigorously grained than huanghuali but is also from the genus Dalbergia. In later examples, from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, hongmu wood was often stained almost black to resemble zitan. There is no way of telling how many genera and species resembled each other in odor or appearance, and they were therefore marketed under the same name. Because of the confusion, huanghuali and hongmu are only marketed under their Chinese names rather than Latin or English labels.
Huangyangmu or boxwood is a compact wood with a straight grain, which ranges in color from whitish to orange amber. Because it grows as a small diameter tree in China, it is often used as inlay material and desk pieces.
Jichimu or chicken-wing wood (genus Ormosia) derives its name from the appearance of this timber’s tangential grain, which resembles feathers. It has a variable color and is one of the Southeast Asian rosewoods although it is not as dense as hongmu or huanghuali. Various species exist on Hainan Island and in Fujian province. Hongdou (red bean) and xiangsi may also be other names for a related species, according to one dealer.
Jumu or southern elm (Zelkova schneideriana) is denser and stronger than its northern cousin and ranges in color from dark yellow to coffee brown. It was a popular timber in Suzhou region and has a refined ring porous structure.
Nanmu (Phoebe nees) has a fine smooth texture and is olive brown in color. It is frequently used for cabinets because it is highly resistant to decay. It is softer than walnut but very similar in appearance. Although it has a pungent aroma and is similar to cedar, it bears no botanical relationship. It was often used for cabinet construction and was referred to in Ming writings.
Shanmu or fir was popular in Fujian province. The grain of this wood is straight and even, and the color ranges from creamy white to pale brown. Although it is not a strong timber, it is resistant to decay.
Taomu or pear ranges in color from light gray to reddish brown. It is good for carving, and is often used for making musical instruments.
Tielimu (Messua ferrea), a dense wood, is often confused with jichimu, but it is more grayish black in color and its grain is coarser. In the south, where it grew, it was used for home construction and firewood, but in the north it was regarded as a desirable hardwood.
Yumu or northern elm (Ulmus L.) is yellowish brown in color with a distinctive wave-like grain pattern that resembles oak. The wood is difficult to dry and easily develops cracks, but is quite resistant to decay and easy to work with. There are more than twenty varieties of elm, and it is traditionally the most common softwood used in the production of furniture in northern China. The best timber comes from Japanese elm, which can reach one meter in diameter.
Zhu or bamboo is not commonly found today, but there are many images of bamboo furniture in Song-dynasty paintings. Bamboo furniture reached its apex during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when Europeans and Americans began looking to East Asia for inspiration in interior design. Foreigners purchased vast quantities of bamboo furniture, although the fanciful design of the export-quality bamboo furniture departed significantly from the classical lines of the early Song pieces.
Zitan (Leguminosae family, genus Pterocarpu s, species undetermined) is a densely grained wood ranging in color from dark purple brown to reddish brown. Workshops used to subdivide zitan into three categories: gold star, cock’s blood and huanghuali grain. Zitan may have originally grown in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Jiangxi, but excessive felling led to its extinction. Initially, it was used only for small luxury items like game boards, weiqi counters and musical instruments. During the Yongle period (AD 1403–24), zitan was stored for imperial use following the grand naval expeditions of Zheng He. During the Longqing reign (AD 1567–73), large quantities were imported from India and the South Pacific islands. Increased use of zitan for palace furnishing during the Qianlong period created a crisis in the court. As stocks dwindled, the emperor gave instructions to preserve it, but supplies continued to decline.
By the end of the Qing dynasty (AD 1644–1911), supplies were nearly exhausted. Although identified under the genus Pterocarpus, no one knows how to classify it today. It is now believed that zitan does not come from a single species, but includes several species of rosewoods which vary in color and grain. The darker wood was probably an indigenous variety. By the mid-Qing dynasty, furniture made of zitan had a lighter hue.
Other secondary woods used in China include the light beige-colored yangmu (poplar), which was used for decorative panels, aprons and spandrels; yunshan (spruce), songmu (pine), zuomu (oak) and huamu (birch, not to be confused with burl).
Rarity and Age
Acquiring a piece of furniture that is rare or unique is an obvious triumph for collectors, and pieces such as Robert and Alice Piccus’s rare throne chair (Fig. 566, page 216) are highly prized. There are, however, dangerous pitfalls in dating Chinese furniture and, not surprisingly, scholars and dealers frequently clash when estimating age.
Dealers like Grace Wu Bruce believe that the dating game for classical Ming-style furniture is tricky. If a piece is made in huanghuali wood in the classical Ming design, and is of the period, it is usually dated to late Ming or early Qing, she says. “Present scholarship does not allow a more precise dating, and those two hundred years of the late Ming and early Qing are termed classical. In my view, it does not matter if they are late Ming or early Qing … it is the same period.”
Another set of rules exists for other woods. The lack of distinct period styles, the few literary references, and the anonymous nature of furniture production make dating something of a guessing game. As dealer Hannah Chiang admits, “The more you know, the less you can say.”
In the best-case scenario, an inscription of the kind found on the back of the memorial block in Fig. 44 can provide clues to age. These dedications are usually written in ink, and they often reveal something about the nature of the acquisition—who bought it, the price paid, and on what occasion it was purchased (Fig. 46). Occasionally, escutcheon draws, such as the one dating to the Song dynasty found on the coffer table in Fig. 45, were used as fasteners for drawer handles. Inscriptions and escutcheon coins are sometimes used to date furniture. While the coins used may be older than the actual piece of furniture, it was customary in dynastic times to use contemporary coins as draws so scholars