Classical Chinese furniture on display in New York
Asian Art Week just kicked-off in New York City. One of the highlights this year: a breathtaking offering of classical Chinese furniture.
"This pair of Huanghuali and spotted bamboo cabinets are among the top lots at Asia Week this year," said Michelle Cheng, Chinese art specialist.
Christie's Chinese furniture expert Michelle Cheng shows off a pair of cabinets dating from the Ming Dynasty.
Its most unique feature is its spotted bamboo.
"What's the asking price? For this pair, it's 2.8 to 3.2 million dollars," Cheng said.
This armchair hopes to fetch between 250,000 and 300,000 dollars as does this meditation stool dating from the 17th century.
Classical Chinese furniture - defined as pieces created in the Ming or Qing dynasties from the end of the 14th century to the beginning of the 20th century - is expensive but Cheng says demand for it is growing.
"At the moment the furniture market is driven by really great examples of Huanghuali and Zitan wood," Cheng said.
"The Huanghuali wood is valuable for its beautiful, lustrous quality, the golden tones of the wood; and Zitan is a very dense wood, very tight grain. It has a beautiful dark purply color."
Cheng says buyers are also increasingly paying attention to a piece's "provenance" or past when determining its value.
"I think a lot of clients feel more secure when they have an object with provenance," she said.
"We look for pieces with publication records and have been spoken about in lectures or articles, or have belonged to famous collections. Or ones that have been shown in exhibitions or museums that focus on this time period."
The furniture available for auction at Christie's comes from one family -- the Flacks who live in the United Kingdom.
Some of the finest examples of classical Chinese furniture are held by Western collectors but when pieces come up for sale they are increasingly being bought by Chinese collectors in a bid to reclaim some of their culture.
That relatively new influx of buyers has helped fuel prices to record highs over the past decade and-a-half.
But can the art form continue to attract top dollar despite China's slowing economy We should have a clearer answer to that next week when the works go up for auction.
