The Asian  Attraction

The romance of China…the Silk Road and the Orient Express, have long captivated our imagination of this exotic land, with glorious visions of fabulous silks, aromatic teas, scented spices, exquisitely designed porcelain, and wonderful furniture. Although  in the past it may have taken years for these items to travel in cargo holds en route from Canton (present day Guangzhou) to the West (from 1699 -1842), it now takes only a few weeks for goods from China to reach this country.

How did this happen?  During the time of the Cultural Revolution millions of pieces of fine furniture were seized from well-to-do homes, never to be returned. It was a tragic time in history – but a new China has now emerged, and with it an opportunity to once again treasure the beauty of the finely crafted furniture that comes with a long and fascinating history.

From the mid-1980s, with China reopening to foreign trade, demands intensified as the natural beauty of both Ming-style and Qing-style furniture attracted more and more admirers. Because the warehouses in China were cleared out, the supply of furniture exceeded demand, and prices for these pieces were low for about a decade. Prices increased as the hunt for fine Chinese antique furniture continued unabated, and the Chinese, themselves, became impassioned about buying back a heritage lost from over four decades of communist rule.