After 40 fabulous years in Central, Altfield Gallery has relocated to its Annex Gallery in Wong Chuck Hang – and, as always, fine antique Chinese furniture remains a key focus. Managing Director AMANDA CLARK reflects on her love of these antiques and antique furniture, and how the art of finding them has changed over the years.
What is unique about Chinese antique furniture?
China is the only Asian country and culture that left floor level mat living and adopted raised living centuries ago, and therefore is the only one with a fully developed range of furniture in its vocabulary.
Once you sit on raised seats, you need surfaces at a higher level and tables for eating and working, as well as raised beds, storage cabinets and so on; these all developed early on in a wonderful distinctive style. Many of the finest classical pieces are designs that were developed during the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), and conservatism and respect for treasured designs meant the same forms continued until modern times.
What prompted your interest in antique furniture?
When I began Altfield in the early 1980s, China was just opening up to private trade again with the West, and I was enthralled as a designer by the range of serene elegant forms, as well as the more decorative and elaborate pieces.
Historically, Chinese ceramics, silks and lacquered pieces were traded back to the West in exchange for imported goods, so most important homes in the West would have had vases and perhaps a lacquered box or cabinet. But there was little trade in the vernacular polished wood furniture and it was relatively unknown by most people.
I thought Chinese antique furniture could be used so well in contemporary homes – stools could work as lamp tables, and daybeds and benches as coffee tables, for example. The tall cabinets with wonderful decorative lacquer make superbly dramatic visual statements in a home but also create a lot of storage space, and altar tables are stunning in hallways and dining rooms as serving tables. When we introduce our new clients for the first time to Chinese furniture, they find such pieces are really practical and easy to work with.
Tell us about the sourcing process in the early years of running the business.
At the start of our business, 95 percent of the population in China was still on a bicycle in a “Mao suit”, and we went to second-hand shops and villages around Beijing, in particular, where old pieces were happily swapped for new.
It was complex and exciting to try to source – foreigners had to use a special FEC (Foreign Exchange Certificate) currency and were not allowed to travel alone, and hotels used travellers cheques rather than credit cards.
We invested in bringing out English antique restorers to our workshop that we had set up with carpenters and refinishers, to teach our team how to restore pieces that had become utilitarian and unloved through the first decades of Communist rule, and were perhaps viewed as decadent and from the old order. Restoration and a good finish continues to be an important factor in our success.
How has sourcing antique furniture changed over time?
As China opened up, it was a completely new source of antique furniture, not previously seen or known much about, unlike European antique furniture which has circulated in Western markets for hundreds of years. It was an exciting time as more and more remote areas were visited, and their unique regional differences added variety to the classic forms.
By the mid-90’s, China had opened up considerably and it became much easier to travel around without official “support”, and a flood of old and new (and fake!) furniture was sourced by dealers from around the world.
The flow of good, authentic old pieces has dried up now. We have prosperous Chinese collectors now buying back good pieces from us and from the West, and they respond quickly to the best pieces that come onto the market within China now. There is a huge reproduction industry, making decent basic and usable pieces for everyday use in traditional styles, but good early pieces are now very rare.
From the start, we focused on sourcing 18th- and 19th-century pieces. Since we closed our retail gallery in Central last year, we now focus on selling through our large Annex Gallery in our warehouse space in Aberdeen, where we have surprisingly increased our sales of the fine early antiques in Hong Kong. I think it helps to have high ceilings and a very spacious environment to display the furniture – and we still have a good collection of early pieces. The stock is irreplaceable, however, and I have not found similar quality available for many years.
Do your antique pieces fit well in contemporary spaces?
As a designer, I find the antique furniture works well in both modern and traditional design schemes; many of the designs that we would call “Ming style” are very refined and elegant forms. They were the basis of the Scandinavian style that developed in the first half of the 1900’s – Scandinavian designers loved the clean lines and took inspiration from them – so they work wonderfully well in contemporary homes.
What are some of your favourite pieces in store?
I personally adore the lacquered pieces, particularly the cabinets and storage pieces, which are functional and beautiful. Lacquer has always been the most prized finish for fine Chinese furniture.
I also love the large compound cabinets that were designed to store clothing in the lower shelves (no clothes were hung up – they were always folded) and ceremonial hats in the top section. I have a good example in my English dining room, which is filled with table linens, while the top section contains all our Christmas ornaments. It’s dramatic and useful! We have red lacquered, walnut and elmwood versions of this sort of compound cabinet in stock now.
Another wonderful piece I love in the Annex now is an opera bench from Shanxi Province – a rare survival, this seven-seater bench is 18th century and exceptionally solidly made, raised on “leopard” legs; it’s known as an opera bench as it would have been a moveable piece, often used in hallways, that was taken outside on summer evenings to catch the cool of the evening, or to be comfortable seating for the household when the itinerant operas annually visited the smaller towns and villages.
The Altfield Gallery Annex is at 9/F, Gee Chang Hong Centre, 65 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen.
2537 6370 | 2552 1968 | altfieldgallery.com
This article on Chinese antique furniture and antiques at Altfield Hong Kong first appeared in the June 2025 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe so you never miss a copy!
