A new kind of antique Chinese furniture swept onto the market in the early 1990s. It appealed to people who were sure they did not like Chinese furniture, people who were ready for new ideas about Orientalia, and people who couldn't afford the five- and six-figure prices routinely attached to classical Chinese pieces. This new variety has struck a surprisingly sympathetic chord with Western tastes, and the prices are still surprisingly low. It comes from 18th and 19th century China, the last days of the emperors, and expresses a sense of creative freedom, vigor, and visual elegance. Here are cabinets, tables, chairs, and accessories in various woods and finishes to enhance each room of your home. This book offers the first comprehensive and compelling look at Chinese country furniture from the consumer's point of view. 380 color images, some in room settings, others with great detail, bring the beautiful designs to life. A guide to pricing makes this a useful tool for collectors and dealers alike. Because of a changing political and economic landscape in China, this late-Ching furniture has flooded Western markets, giving retail customers equal footing with collectors and keeping prices reasonable, for now. Because the quality covers a wide range, it takes an informed buyer to navigate between the real and the not-quite-so-real. The information in this beautiful book will give the reader the bearings they need to make the right decisions.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Andrea and Lynde McCormick of Boston, Massachusetts travel to China several times a year to purchase antique furniture and accessories which they sell from their website, their showroom in Boston's Back Bay, and at the finest antique shows on the East Coast.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Pictures, Insufficient Content,
This review is from: Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture and Accessories, C. 1780-1920 (Schiffer Book for Collectors) (Hardcover)
With all the fuss about Ming and early Ching Dynasty antiques, I am glad that someone has finally written a book about furniture from the late Ching Dynasty. At face value, it is a very attractive book indeed, with colourful pictures of antique Chinese furniture and accessories. However, those hoping to learn more about antiques from this book will be sorely disappointed. Not much was written about the history behind the antiques, such as the difference in styles during different times in China's history or even differences in styles between regional furniture. This book was written by people who own an antique business, so what you read is rather like what you would hear should you walk into an antique shop and speak to the shopkeepers. The literature covers only the first 29 pages of the book, and save for the last 2 pages where there is a short discussion on the various kinds of wood, the rest of the 176 page book contains page after page of photographs of furniture and accessories, with no further explainatory notes.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
disappointing,
By William Lack (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture and Accessories, C. 1780-1920 (Schiffer Book for Collectors) (Hardcover)
The images are very nice and well photographed, however as a work of scholarship it is flawed. There are a large number of datelines that are so clearly wrong as to question the authors expertise. I won't bore you with a image by image critique but suffice to say that there are better books on the market such as Friends of the House or Kai Yin Lo's book on Vernacular furniture all of which are real works of quality. As for the price guides included in the book, how helpful is it to give a ...[broad] price range... for a piece of furniture without explaining why one will be the lower price the other the more expensive.
17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended and beautifully presented,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture and Accessories, C. 1780-1920 (Schiffer Book for Collectors) (Hardcover)
In Chinese Country Antiques: Vernacular Furniture And Accessories, c. 1780-1920, Andrea and Lynde McCormick successfully collaborate to offer a comprehensive, authoritative, reader friendly survey of antiquarian Chinese furniture. Profusely illustrated with hundreds of full color photographs, there are chapters devoted to provenance, finishes, fakes, cabinets, chairs and stools, tables, and accessories. Of special note are the chapters on fakes, and accessories. A highly recommended and beautifully presented introduction to Chinese antiques for the novice collector or student, Chinese Country Antiques is further enhanced with an informative appendix on "Woods" and a brief bibliography for further, more specialized or detailed study.
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