Pair of Chinese Huanghuali Display Cabinets

• Art and Crafts Movement - The Arts and Crafts movement began in Britain around 1880 and quickly spread across America and Europe. The Movement took its name from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in London 1887. One of the most influential figures behind the Arts and Crafts movements was the designer and writer William Morris. The movement continued until about 1920 and was followed by the Art Deco movement.
• Frieze - An architectural term denoting the flat, shaped or convex horizontal surface of furniture, between the architrave and the cornice, usually found on a cabinet or bookcase, or on desks and tables where it may include drawers, the area between the top and the legs. In ceramics, the term refers to the banding, of usually a repeating pattern, on the rims of plates and vases.
• Huanghuali Wood - Huanghuali is the most sought-after timber used in the construction of Chinese furniture because of its fine colour and grain.
  
  During Ming and early Qing dynasties, most of the best furniture was made from huanghuali wood.
  
  It is a member of the rosewood family and over time the surface mellows to a yellowish brown tone with the exposure to light.
  
  In recent years, furniture made from huanghuali wood has increased exponentially in value.
• Patination / Patina - In broad terms, patination refers to the exterior surface appearance of the timber, the effect of fading caused by exposure to sunlight and air over the course of a century or more, changing the piece to a soft, mellow colour.
  
  As patina is very difficult to replicate, it is one of the most important guides to determining the age of furniture.
  
  Patina is also the term applied to the bloom or film found on old bronzes due to oxidisation.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• Chinese furniture, timbers
  • huanghuali wood 157
  • huanghuali wood, cabinets, desks and other furniture 72
• Chinese furniture, type or function - display cabinets 137