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Hello All,
Please also see several photos I posted on the forum, but at three photos every 24 hours it kind of got buried. These hardwood tables where dyed black st some point, and much of the dye has faded away. Please see the forum post for more specifics.

These are a lovely and very well put together fangdeng, but are not huali wood. They are nanmu. Nanmu is a lauraceae family species, very resistant to decay, and has been used in Chinese furniture from the earliest of times. The forbidden city is largely constructed of nanmu, as was the emperor's palanquin, and the emperor's fleet. At various periods it was reserved for imperial use, but not in the same way as zitan was. Nanmu is collectible, albeit not on the same level as huali wood. This link may be of interest to you. http://english.cguardian.com/paget.php

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