In the collection world, ancient furniture materials have always been divided into soft and hardwood. Hardwood furniture refers to mahogany furniture represented by rosewood, yellow pear and ironwood, while cork furniture refers to all wooden furniture except hardwood furniture. In fact, soft hardwood furniture is only a relative concept. In the so-called cork furniture, some furniture materials are also very good. For example, teak, walnut, elm, beech, oak, boxwood, catalpa, nan, cypress, camphor and so on. Some of the old Beijingers called cork "firewood", saying that the wood other than mahogany is not good, and it is only suitable for chopping wood to burn fire, which is quite suspicious of the meaning of poverty and exaggeration. Considering its provenance, it is probably from the mouth of the Manchu nobles who admired mahogany furniture, because ordinary people would not hold this mentality. So, how do we view firewood and its furniture?
For those who show family wealth, classical furniture material is the first; for classical furniture lovers, the cultural information of the shape, age, craftsmanship and connotation of furniture is the first; for classical furniture itself, there is no distinction between high and low. The main thing that determines the value of an ancient piece of furniture is not the material, but its historicity, artistry, craftsmanship, rarity and practicality. The preciousness of wood is only one of many factors.
Mr. Wang Shixiang once sighed in his later years: "It is difficult to say that the sea is not in the water." He said that he had studied Ming-style Huanghuali furniture for decades, but it was only a product of a certain time and certain regions. With the long history of the continent, the vast territory, and the multitude of nations, there is no furniture all the time and no place. Looking at it, the position occupied by Huanghuali furniture is very limited.
Hu Desheng, an expert in classical furniture in the Ming and Qing dynasties of the Forbidden City, also said that hardwood furniture is a small branch of ancient Chinese furniture. Teacher Hu's judgment should be very objective, hardwood in the long river of ancient Chinese history is only a moment, before the Ming Wanli, the ancients also used rosewood, yellow pear, but the number is very small, did not become the mainstream furniture.
Our titles for folk furniture have always been "wood furniture" and "miscellaneous wood furniture", in fact, these are two very unpleasant titles.
Wood furniture itself is a debatable term. The popularity of this name should originate from the carpentry shop in Beijing. According to Mr. Wang Shixiang's recollection, during the Republic of China period, carpenters who repaired furniture in Beijing used the term specifically to refer to those wooden furniture other than hardwood furniture such as rosewood and huanghuali. This also explains the reason why Mr. Wang Shixiang in his book "Ming-style Furniture Research" summarized this part of the material as "non-rigid wood".
Early Qing Dynasty Elm Arhat bed
Objectively speaking, the title of firewood itself carries a certain pejorative color. According to the available data, it first appeared in the "Biography of Children's Heroes" written by wen kang, a nobleman of the Eight Banners at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the original context described the scene of the disabled artist's art, "followed by the sound of the strings and the sound of the strings playing, and entered the courtyard." Looking at it, it turned out to be a bunch of blind men, the one in front holding a load of firewood strings, the one in the middle holding a broken octagonal drum, and the one in the back carrying a foreign organ, with a stick in his hand, and the one who was screaming and screaming ran to the east room to bring it."
Now it is difficult for us to speculate on the author's state of mind when he wrote this passage, and it would be a little rash to conclude that the author was unreasonable and arrogant just by the emotional words "blind", "wood strings", and "broken octagonal drums", after all, language first serves the work. However, it is true that the contemptuous sentiment of the word "firewood" cannot be denied.
Clear beech wood rattan drawer backrest Nanguan hat chair
Then again, the fact that "wood-wood furniture" is indiscriminately used in the Gyeonggi area does not mean that other regions also use this name. In the south of the continent, the name of this type of furniture is much more objective in comparison, they call it "white wood furniture", the reason is obvious, just cut open, the color of these wood is light, called "white wood" in line with people's first impression.
In addition, some merchants refer to this type of furniture as "cork furniture", which is a literal translation of the English "softwood", which is a catalyst for Western culture. If it is understood from the perspective of the opposite side of hardwood furniture, this is also a working name, but it has a confusing misunderstanding, that is, people will not know it, often mistakenly think that it is a very soft wood that can be easily destroyed by hand like a wine cork.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the cedar wood red lacquer two-door bucket arch cabinet
Here we also have to mention the relatively niche name of "lacquered wood furniture". At first glance, lacquered wood furniture and "lacquered furniture" seem to be the same thing, but the purpose of the user here is to use it instead of the name of "woodwood furniture". If this substitution holds, then "lacquered wood furniture" should be based on two meanings. First, a large part of the ancient firewood furniture was painted; second, the fetal bone of the ancient lacquer furniture was rarely made of hard wood, and most of them used non-hardwood wood, so if the "lacquer wood" is understood as "the wood suitable for painting in history", it is an unfair title.
The above four names, the most widely spread now should be "firewood furniture", on the one hand, it is in line with more people's experience and common sense of this type of furniture, on the other hand, it has a certain historical accumulation, and this accumulation is beyond the reach of the other three.
Ming Walnut wood five-legged inner roll brazier rack
Woodwood furniture runs through the entire history of classical Chinese furniture. The earliest prototype of classical furniture is known to be the copper trick of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and by the Spring and Autumn Warring States, wooden furniture has already had a state of hair. At this time, iron tools began to appear in large quantities, creating conditions for engraving. In addition, the lacquer technology is also applied to furniture.
Firewood furniture reached its glory in the Song and Yuan dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, the lifestyle of sitting on the floor was already the end of the crossbow, and high-level furniture gradually replaced low furniture as the center of living space. The variety of lacquer furniture is more abundant, and more types are refined, such as piano tables, chess tables, etc. Especially after entering the Southern Song Dynasty, the varieties and forms of furniture have been quite complete, and the lifestyle of sitting on the feet has been fully established.
Late Ming and early Qing dynasties Fir Reishi pattern single board broken tooth warp case
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the heyday of classical furniture came. We also know more about this history. Its biggest feature is that the light of huanghuali and rosewood furniture covers up firewood furniture, if before the Ming and Qing dynasties, the furniture material is not obviously expensive, then the grade differentiation of the material at this time is very clear, and the firewood furniture undoubtedly belongs to the more grounded folk utensils.
Under this big time clue, the firewood furniture in each region also has its own different characteristics. Rough points include South Chai, North Chai, and even West Chai. If it continues to deepen, it will be more complicated.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Nanmu held lantern brocade stepping bed
To this day, how to view the value of firewood furniture is necessary to re-examine. Mention of firewood furniture, it is considered worthless, no doubt a very shallow cognition. In fact, wood furniture and hardwood furniture should be two mutual reference systems, hardwood furniture from the emergence to maturity, is based on the experience of wood furniture to achieve. And compared with hardwood furniture, the flexibility and changeability of firewood furniture can more vividly and directly express those original ecological cultural landscapes, see this layer of "epic temperament", and see the priceless side of firewood furniture.
Take huanghuali and beech wood as an example, the same shape and workmanship, a piece of huanghuali, a piece of beech, which one do you collect? The answer is self-evident.
Therefore, at this time, folk furniture is fed by hardwood furniture such as huanghuali, and for collection, the aesthetics of folk furniture have become a decisive factor.
If the hardwood furniture is not done well, the material left is still worth a few dollars, but if the lacquered wood furniture is not done well, it is really worthy of the name of "firewood furniture", which is deserved, and it is only worthy of being firewood.
This is precisely the problem, we have a great deviation from the relationship between material and furniture aesthetics, and we have not reached a balanced state.
Therefore, folk lacquered wood furniture is different from hardwood furniture, because it is a kind of popular daily furniture, although some of the furniture may reflect the legacy of Ming-style furniture in aesthetic taste, and retain the style of high antiquity in the shape.
However, in terms of wood material, production process, economic value and so on, the difference between good and low is very large. Therefore, the collection of lacquered wood furniture should be more cautious than hardwood furniture to avoid blindness. The following is a list of the three suitable and three taboos of folk furniture collection for your reference.
Taboo and elegant
The first thing that should be clear about the purchase of folk furniture is to value its classical charm and artistic style.
Because, in terms of quantity, the scope of use of lacquered wood furniture is very large, and the degree of perfection reflected is much lower than that of old hardwood furniture such as huanghuali and rosewood.
Therefore, when selecting firewood furniture, it is extremely important to hold high aesthetic standards.
The key is still the classic and aesthetic aspects. Classic refers to the category and style of furniture to reflect the unique vitality of the folk, the unique style of folk furniture.
But this unique style is also within the aesthetic framework of the Ming style, not whimsical, without any basis.
For example, if a table or painting is very similar to similar works of Ming-style Huanghuali in terms of workmanship and structure, or a round leg, or a structure with one leg and three teeth, it will have much more collectible significance than the strange and unusual style.
Early Qing Dynasty Elm collietal tenon with bracket cloud pattern warp case
Aesthetics means that furniture is never the older the better, but should be able to bring us a strong aesthetic taste.
Especially now, many buyers choose furniture for use and furnishing at home, so if the furniture is rough, even if it is a long time, it should not be spent to move it home.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the beech wood inlaid stone slab face square table
Avoid big and smart
Because today's home environment and the ancient home environment have undergone fundamental changes, with the reduction of the height of the room, the reduction of the area, many classical furniture is not suitable for use in today's environment.
For example, in a room that is usually fourteen or fifteen square meters, it is difficult to put a large and clumsy top cabinet like the ancients; in a living room with three or four meters of opening, the large and long large shanxi strips full of carvings will only make your room congested.
Therefore, when purchasing lacquered wood furniture, the general family should not move those large furniture to the home, if the home area allows, you can choose a heavy instrument to fill.
For most people, starting from the practical function, we should pay more attention to some elegant and small lacquered wood furniture. For example: small flower racks, incense tables, small piano tables, small strips, noodle cabinets, small square corner cabinets, small painting tables, bright bookshelves, etc.
These furniture are not large in size, but they are well furnished and practical, so they will play an atmospheric role in the home.
Avoid more and more refined
Today's love for traditional furniture is more of a yearning for taste and beauty after the improvement of spiritual life. Therefore, everything should be just right as the standard, and it should not be too much to be too late.
Blindly coveting the purchase of firewood furniture without considering the overall style and specific capacity of the family makes the home appear congested and dim.
Folk furniture has not attracted attention from the outside world because of its popularity, but the high-quality boutique parts are still a minority, and they do have their academic research and collection value.
This part of the furniture, more precisely, is high-quality lacquered wood furniture, which should return to its due value and status.
It is difficult to pick the essence from folk art, but once there is a fine product in folk art, it must be born out of nowhere, and its life tension, fullness and originality are far higher than elite art.
The best furniture, in a critical state, maintains the roughness of folk craftsmanship and looks at the elegance of hardwood furniture, which is a particularly fascinating state.
Not all mottled things are necessarily quaint, and not all things that have been trained over time are the essence of history. The understanding and appreciation of lacquered wood furniture requires more eyesight and appreciation than hardwood furniture.
Traditional Chinese folk furniture is the foundation of the development of Chinese furniture, the crystallization of the creativity and wisdom of the vast number of working people, and has extremely rich cultural connotations.
Folk homes have personality, carrying a lot of historical, humanistic, artistic and folklore information, craftsmen can indulge in their own yearning for life, the pursuit and understanding of beauty into the furniture they make, innovation can be seen everywhere.
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