Rosewood furniture offers fragrant beauty
Print Edition
Traditional Chinese rosewood furniture in a home was once considered the epitome of success and social status. Though its stature may be diminishing in the modern age, it still stands as a monument to an old and cherished artistry.
At least, that is how Yang Yang sees it. She is founder and chairman of the Yangyang Rosewood Art Hall in Minhang, which was established in 2010 in cooperation with district international schools, Donghua University, Shanghai University and the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts.
“The furniture is fragrant,” she says. “It has been given artistic life by craftsmen and passed down by families over generations. Rosewood furniture’s beauty can inspire the mind and soul.”
Chinese rosewood furniture traditionally comes in Suzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou styles. Suzhou furniture, the most original of the styles, is characterized by its elaborate designs.
Chinese rosewood furniture can be traced back to the 10th century, though it wasn’t until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that new joinery techniques made the furniture popular.
“Redwood furniture swells up in the plum rainy season,” says Yang. “The wood ‘creaks’ during dry autumn periods as the absorbed moisture is evaporated. An organic material responding to its environment is like life, isn’t it?”
Yang’s family in Suzhou, capital of Shanghai’s neighboring Jiangsu Province, specialized in rosewood furniture, but initially she didn’t much like it.
“The furniture was hard and it hurt when I hit the corner,” says Yang. “It wasn’t until I began to understand the cultural significance behind the designs that I started to immerse myself in the world of rosewood furniture.”
The wood is denser than water, fine grained, and high in oils and resins. These properties make it stable, long-lasting and resistant to insects and rot. When new, the wood is highly scented.
Slow-growing rosewood trees come from the genus Dalbergia. They grow in the tropical belt from Southeast Asia to Western Africa. Indian, Brazilian and Madagascar rosewood are among the most prized. However, overlogging has reduced rosewood to the status of an endangered species, and many nations have slapped restrictions or even bans on its trade.
Besides furniture, the wood has traditionally been used in making musical instruments, billiard cues, fountain pens, flooring and chess pieces.
To Yang, the aesthetics of the ancient Chinese makes rosewood furniture so special. Scholars helped the furniture develop a cultural significance.
“Today’s furniture designers are not necessarily artists anymore,” she says. “But the ancient Chinese were proficient in history, poetry, calligraphy and art. The culture essence and beauty contained in furniture they designed are beyond our reach and their work is difficult to surpass.”
The furniture’s size reflects principles of feng shui, which determined household factors such as the length of tables or the height of doors.
“Many things are beautiful but not practical,” says Yang. “But redwood furniture is both.”
All traditional rosewood furniture uses mortise-and-tenon joints, which means no nails or screws.
Yang’s furniture collection mainly comes from the Ming Dynasty, though she has recovered a few pieces from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The Ming style came during what was a golden age of furniture and set the basic tone of the traditional style.
Ming furniture was normally cut from one piece of wood and used simple, elegant design to let the wood speak for itself.
Rosewood furniture remains pricey. However, Yang tells her customers that everybody can at least afford one piece. Quality is more important than quantity.
“Many customers are attracted to neo-Chinese style furniture,” she says.
“They don’t appreciate the artistry of traditional furniture. But some modern furniture won’t last long, while rosewood can be passed down through generations. True beauty lies in the classics that will never fade away.”
Yang opened her art hall, previously accessible only by artists or collectors, to the general public last year. Student internships are also available there.
“One of my roles is culture inheritor, promoting this beauty to more people,” she says.
Xu Jianping, national inheritor and conservator of Ming-style furniture, opened a workshop in the art hall. Yang and her sister are both former students of his.
Yang said she would like to establish a prestige local furniture brand but that is difficult in the current environment.
“The furniture market is bumpy now,” she says.
Demand for rosewood furniture is slowing, with middle-class buyers facing a financial squeeze and younger buyers showing little appetite for traditional furniture.
Besides expensive material and labor costs, it takes three months to hand make a piece of rosewood furniture, and return on investment is slow.
Profit alone, however, isn’t what drives Yang.
“Besides a businesswoman, I also see myself as an ambassador of rosewood furniture,” she says. “I have a mission and responsibility to share and promote the culture of rosewood furniture.”
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