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ANTIQUES
63
June14
PRECONCEPTION:
Chinese furniture has to fit with
traditional furniture.
“No, it doesn’t,” says
Anne Lockett
from China Collection
. “It often has
strong, clean lines that go with modern
and contemporary interiors, and you can
put one strong piece of Chinese furniture
in with a lovely modern piece.
“Often, people have this idea when they
arrive in Singapore that they have to get
their home set up fast. It takes strength
to pull yourself back and question why
you want to buy certain pieces, but this is
important. You need to buy key pieces that
you really want and that you really enjoy. If
you’re going to buy a big piece you should
make sure you know exactly where you will
eventually place it. Be aware of why you’re
collecting furniture; buy slow and buy well.
A lovely cabinet works well on its own, but
you can also decorate around it, and a
simple altar table, for example, could go
with almost anything.”
“If you have a very modern home, just
one piece can become a statement piece,”
continues Anne’s son,
Doug Lockett
.
“Some people think that Chinese furniture
is very traditional, but increasingly we are
finding that the younger generation of
customers favour the ‘shabby raw’ look. This
is a trade-off between function and form:
leaving a piece in its original state means
it’s susceptible; but it has a certain look
that they like. When it comes to ‘younger’
pieces, we are willing to modify them. For
example, there’s a large green bookshelf in
our showroom, which is not particularly old
– around 100 to 150 years: we retained its
original frame, added slats to the back and
changed the colour. But we’d never change
the colour of a piece that has more history.
Woody Antique House’s Chris explains
his view. “The fusion approach to
home decoration, a mix of Eastern and
Western furniture styles, has been around
for some time, and having a piece of antique
furniture can further enhance that. If selected
appropriately, a cabinet or sideboard can
double as a piece of art on top of its original
functionality for storage. It can be the
centrepiece in the main hall of a home and,
very often, a great topic of conversation with
your guests because there is a story behind
each authentic piece of furniture.”
This elm-wood display shelf from Shanxi Province dates to the late 19th century and was sourced by
China Collection. Doug explains: “It was originally in a dark reddish lacquer, most of which had worn
with age. We applied a new colour, added slatting across the back to match the wood type and finish
of the frame, and maintained the original feel and patina of the old piece.”
China Collection’s antique grain trunk in pine, made in Gansu Province in the mid-19th century. What was
once a three-compartment trunk was transformed into a functional sideboard for a modern home.