What is ‘Huanghuali’ –Classical Chinese furniture

Elegant, stylish, hand-crafted pieces of furniture produced in China have furnished domestic spaces from homes to Imperial Chinese palaces for hundreds of years. A wide range of styles and pieces have been made through the Ming and Qing dynasties, from the end of the 14th to the early 20th century. Such pieces include chairs, tables, beds, and stools to smaller items such as mirror stands, pots and frames. These pieces are made without glue or nails and held together by expert joinery and craftsmanship, creating seamless transitions through the furniture. For example, these classic ‘horseshoe-back’ armchairs, Qyanyi. The top horseshoe shaped rail is made from five separately carved sections of wood and joined perfectly to create one flowing arch, supported by caved supports leading into the rectangular seat.

Although the style and manufacturing process is a reason for purchasing such pieces, it’s the wood type that really gets collectors going. Classical Chinese furniture can be made from a variety of woods, from hardwoods to softwood. But it’s only a couple varieties of hardwoods that can turn a typical piece from hundreds of pounds into multi thousands of pounds – One of these types being ‘Huanghuali’.

Huanghuali literally translating to ‘Yellow flowering pear wood’ or yellow rosewood (not to be confused with typical ‘rosewood, huali’ –which was used to mass produce antique style furniture in the latter part of the 20th century in Hong Kong). Huanghuali is native to Hainan Island in the South of China and to areas of Vietnam. It’s the Chinese variety which is of better quality and can be characterised by the oily yellowish-brown tones and dense grain with dark swirling markings referred to as ‘Ghost faces’ or ‘Ghost eyes’ by Chinese collectors and dealers. Being very durable, impermeable to water and insects and with a sometimes ‘sweet fragrant smell’ it made this wood a favourite for very high-ranking officials and important palace habitants.

The above pair of 20th century Huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs sold in our recent February sale for £16,120. The top price for huanghuali furniture sold via auction was at Sotheby’s Hong Kong 2022. An Imperial folding horseshoe-back armchair from late Ming dynasty (1368-1644) hammered at HK$106 million (£11 million), setting an auction record for a Chinese chair and becoming the second most valuable piece of Chinese classical furniture sold at auction.

If you would like to learn more about any items – Contact us for a free appraisal.

Leon Ma Ma San Auction in Bath 01225 318 587 | www.masanauction.com