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Subject:Re: What kind of wood is this large coffee table?
Posted By: kirk Thu, Aug 01, 2013
Jichimu? no - really I wouldn't say so.
Nice thing though - very decorative, very traditional (apart from the fielded panel top that is) & it does have a good natural sun-kissed hue. Really good - it's getting there. Sun bleeching is associated with the term huanghuali, but whereas with hhli the figure becomes stronger as it lightens out, the opposite applies with the same process using hongmu as raw material. This among the primary distinctions between the two terms, & possibly root of all the apparent confusion in application of the nomenclature. It's not really a science as such, it's far more a connoisseurship, in fact - a scientific approach to the discipline can make the conneseurship appear to all intents & purposes completely nonsensical, but it is in reality absolutely nothing of the sort. Appreciation of the arts is not a science, it's actually far more sophisticated, & although it can & often does incorporate a certain amount of scientific understanding, a work should be seen first & foremost in context of the arts. It's sophistication is in it's antiquity, or in other words it's natural patina, that can only come into being as a result of extended thermonuclear radiation from the sun & various other natural contributing environmental influences, and not as many would have one believe in the raw material & workmanship itself. It is far more in how it's entire history will produce an object of rare and sumptuous beauty that is impossible by any other means to emulate.
That said however, there is much to be said for the golden rule of ABC: The more expensive something was to produce, the A)less likely the general population would have had the wherewithall to acquire such a thing; the B)more likely it will be treated in a manner befitting an object of any cultural significance that may in time produce said desired effect; & thus the C)more it will in time appreciate in rarity & FMV as it enters the realm of antiquity & of the arts. (as opposed simply to craft)
So - your table...
Is it a rare object? - well - I would say that despite the risk of being perceived to be in direct contradiction to what I have just said, & despite it's apparent vintage / lack thereof, it could be considered marginally more rare & certainly more desirable than a comparable object made of say - mahogany, or even walnut. Hhli, I am sorry to say it is not, but you could certainly get away with calling it hongmu. It has a superb patina for it's age, and it's austere - early Qing form very desirable given current trends.
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- aaron - Apr 30, 2013 (12:19 PM) 
