ТОП просматриваемых книг сайта:
China Style. Sharon Leece
Читать онлайн.Название China Style
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781462906710
Автор произведения Sharon Leece
Жанр Дом и Семья: прочее
Издательство Ingram
The minimal dining room showcases four huanghuali horse-shoe armchairs. Against the rear wall stands a sloping stile wood-hinged cabinet. The travertine marble floor heightens the industrial feel of the space.
An impressive Ming dynasty canopy bed with decorative latticework stands in the corridor leading to the internal stairwell. Such beds would have been placed in alcoves and used not only for sleeping but also for leisure, study and household tasks during the day. Typically, they would have been draped with fabric to suit the season-silk or cotton for the winter months; gauze netting in the summer to allow breezes to filter through.
Designer Ming
"People ask me, is this modern? But it is 400 years old. It really does transcend not only time, but also place," says Grace Wu Bruce, with reference to the premier quality Ming furniture which fills her Hang Kong home.
The internationally renowned Ming furniture collector and dealer has a passion for the genre that she loves to share. With galleries in Hong Kong and London, she admits to a love affair with the furniture that has never decreased in intensity "I came upon Ming furniture by accident and from the beginning I was smitten."
Proof that Ming's subtle elegance blends harmoniously with 21st-century interiors can be found in her spacious apartment with its bold yellow and red walls, colourful Iranian carpets and lush fabrics, which complement the rich huonghuoli wood furniture On the walls hang an impressive collection of traditional calligraphy (the highest form of art in China), whose visual beauty and rhythm is clear even to those unaware of the cultural contexts and meanings inherent in the writing.
A driving force behind much of the work to increase public knowledge of Ming furniture, Wu Bruce combines her work and home lives. "I was probably one of the first of my generation (Chinese) to collect Ming, " she says. "My own collection and work are intricately tied up with the development of Ming furniture in the field "
The fine architectural proportions and pure designs of Ming furniture are perfectly portrayed in this pair of sloping stile wood hinged cabinets from the 16th-17th century. "They are particularly beautiful because the door panels have matching grains, so were appreciated by connoisseurs of the period and once again by collectors," says Wu Bruce. The fan paintings above are by Chen Pei Qiao; the gold and blue calligraphy scroll is by premier calligrapher Qi Gong of Beijing. Wu has installed a groove around the false ceiling, which houses a flexible hanging system for her artworks so they can be moved around easily, usually according to the season.
"Rocks are treasured by Chinese collectors as objects of art," explains Wu. "They symbolize nature and can be brought inside so one can contemplate nature indoors." This malachite stone from Shilu Mountain (above, detail) is an impressive example.
A classic 16th-century Ming lute table stands against the far wall; it would have been an important part of the scholar's accoutrements of the time. Calligraphy is regarded as the highest form of art in China and Wu Bruce has a spectacular collection. Hanging behind the lute table is a 16th-17th-century scroll by Zheng Da Qian which depicts the lone scholar in the mountains. The pair of calligraphy couplets are by early 20th-century calligrapher Lin San Zhi; they refer to furniture. In the foreground, a dash of contemporary style is added with colourful Iranian rugs. The extremely heavy yellow wax 'Lashi' stone symbolizes nature being brought inside.
In the warm, red-walled hallway hangs a dramatic, abstract painting by grandmaster of modern art, Wu Guangzhong.
Exquisite huanghuali Ming dynasty pieces may feature in every room, but this is also an interior meant for comfort and relaxation. In the feminine master bedroom, a Ming bed has been dressed in the manner of a Western four poster with swagged fabrics and piped detailing. "I find colour is a good balance for my life," says Wu Bruce, explaining that in her galleries she goes to the other extreme and uses a stark, all-white palette to show off the furniture's architectural lines. Both decorative approaches are equally valid. " I have the gallery in the day and home in the evening. It is perfect for me."
A Love of Order
A fondness for Chinese furniture and a desire for ordered living come together in this pre-war apartment in New York's Upper East Side. The quietly elegant space comprises a large entrance hall from which the library, living room and dining room lead off The owner, who at one time was in the antiques business, has on elegant collection of Ming and Qing pieces, sourced by premier London-based dealer Nicholas Grindley.
The owner's preference for formality is echoed in the interior's decorative pion. Clean lines, a sense of symmetry and a logical arrangement of furniture are the perfect foil for the elegant Chinese pieces housed here. But this is no impersonal showcase: understated colours and textures have been used to bring warmth to the space and enhance the classical modern feel. The spacious light grey entrance hall features a large reproduction carpet based on a 17th-century Chinese design, celodon-coloured walls in the dining room offset the herringbone parquet floor; and grey green pointed walls odd visual interest in the living room and library.
Clever combinations of Ming furniture and Western modernist designs are positioned throughout this apartment: a group of 1950s Italian glassware sits on a 17th-century huonghuoli Ming cabinet; a Ruhlmann desk is juxtaposed with a mid 19th-century Chinese drum stool and a Brice Marden print; and a Ming everted altar table has a Georg Boselitz drawing hanging above. They may be from different eras and cultures but these carefully selected pieces celebrate the skill of the craftsman and the value of a logical approach to design.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.