For me, it
all started with a stool.
One balmy spring Sunday, I was meandering down Yuyuan Lu,
past a party of old men lounging on the sidewalk, glass jars
of watery tea in hand, slapping down cards and chewing the
fat. An ordinary sight, but something special caught my eye: a
beautiful Art Deco stool that was being used as a card table.
"What a pretty stool," I mused as I continued on. But then
something clicked: Maybe they'd let me have it! I returned to
the scene, and made a few discreet inquiries. "This old thing?
Why would anyone want it?" Then, from the growing peanut
gallery, "Charge her five kuai!" "No, charge her ten!"
And for ten yuan, it was mine.
The
acquisition of this stool proved the beginning of a
fascinating journey into the history and home furnishings of
Shanghai. This city is a unique fusion of East and West, and
everything from its food to its architecture to its literature
exhibits foreign characteristics with Chinese sensibilities,
or perhaps the other way around. Practically every expat home
in town contains an "antique" red cabinet -- you know the type
-- either imported from Anhui or manufactured in a factory in
Putuo district. Few foreigners, or even Shanghainese, are
aware of the elegant and diverse styles of Old Shanghai
furniture. Because these relics of Old Shanghai are relatively
numerous, their prices are surprisingly low considering their
quality -- generally even cheaper than new furniture. I've
outfitted an entire apartment with Old Shanghai chairs,
tables, sofas, lamps, dressers and bookcases, and the most
expensive of these cost only Y600. Unfortunately, because so
few people recognize the historical and aesthetic value of Old
Shanghai furniture, there are only a few shops dealing in
them, and rarely is any effort made to preserve or restore
them. Many of my finest treasures have literally been rescued
from atop a trash heap.
Old Shanghai furniture can be roughly broken down into
three categories, which correspond to the stages of the city's
development as well as to the style of buildings in which the
majority of the population resided. These started with the
shikumen longtang, which dominated from the mid
Nineteenth Century up until about 1920, through the
yangfang longtang, or foreign-style alley houses, of
the 1920s and early '30s, and ending with the high-rise
apartments of the mid '30s up to 1949. Of course, these
periods and styles overlapped significantly, and the furniture
and housing of earlier periods continued to be used and
manufactured throughout the later periods, but the standard
division holds.
The shikumen longtang, or stone-gated alley
houses, are an architectural form found only in Shanghai; only
a few years ago, they still housed a majority of the city's
residents, and they remain a Shanghai trademark, although
they're rapidly disappearing. The furniture of the
shikumen is the most "Chinese" of Shanghai's furniture.
While general structure of shikumen furniture varies, with
about half following Chinese lines and half more Western,
their detailed decorations are invariably Chinese. The most
common example of shikumen furniture is the rectangular stool,
similar in shape and design to traditional Chinese tables and
alters, but smaller, more practical, and more portable.
Decorations between the legs follow traditional patterns.
Rectangular stools were once ubiquitous in Shanghai, but are
becoming ever less so. Also common are small, wooden chairs
with square backs reminiscent of traditional Chinese chairs,
but with rounded edges and beveled seats more Western in
style. Vertically centered in the backrest is a column of
detailed carvings depicting animals, birds, flowers, hearts,
and other designs based in Chinese folk art. Other types of
shikumen furniture, such as beds, tables, and cabinets, are
similarly distinguished by detailed carvings drawing from the
folk tradition. Beds throughout all three periods used woven
matting, covered with cotton pads, which is typical of
Southern China, contrasting with the heated brick kang
typical in the North. With the advent of electricity, most
shikumen houses were illuminated by a bulb hanging from the
ceiling and covered by a white, round, flower-shaped glass
shade. These shades are easily found at the Fuyou Lu and
Dongtai Lu antique markets and should cost Y20.
Shanghai entered its period of modernization in the 1920s.
J.B. Powell, who arrived in Shanghai in 1917, recalled in his
memoirs how the city was transformed in the early 1920s by
widespread plumbing, sewage, and other infrastructure
essentials. Foreign-style lane townhouses -- xin shi li
nong -- emerged in this period, merging the lane
neighborhood and garden-and-courtyard structure of the
shikumen with modern amenities. Two floors taller, with metal
rather than wood fittings, and with indoor restrooms, these
were the homes of middle class Chinese and the less-wealthy
foreigners. The furniture of these townhouses was
predominantly European classical. These subtle yet ornate
pieces would have been perfectly at home in an English sitting
room or French parlor of the same era. While frilly, flowery,
French designs prevailed, Chinese elements could still be
found in the smaller details, such as the crescent-shaped pull
handles on the drawers.
Many international
trends, including in the areas of art and design, tended to
converge in Shanghai. The late 1930s and the 1940s were Deco
decades for the city, as theaters, hotels, and apartment
buildings, dominated by the inspired designs of L. E. Hudec,
altered Shanghai's face. Single family flats, in Art Deco
buildings between four and twenty stories, provided an
alternative to the multifamily lane dwellings. Paralleling the
rise of the apartment buildings emerged a strain of Art Deco
furniture, but like previous styles it came with uniquely
Shanghainese characteristics. The majority of Shanghai's Art
Deco furniture continued to use the general forms of the
earlier styles, but with Deco flourishes taking the place of
Chinese or classical details. My Yuyuan Lu stool, for example,
is derived from a simple round, four-legged stool that is
almost as much a Shanghai staple as the square stool mentioned
earlier. Later incarnations added Chinese-style carvings as
decoration under the seat and between the legs; examples of
these are found in the site of the founding of the Chinese
Communist Party. The Deco version merely curved the legs and
the supports and added Art Deco "teeth" next to the legs.
Interestingly, the standard Chinese square table
remained the norm for dining in Shanghai. Cramped living
conditions precluded the possibility of a separate dining room
for all but the most wealthy, so the longer, rectangular
Western dining table never caught on. Versions of the
multi-purpose square table, however, can be found in designs
featuring the full range of Shanghai furnishing history.
After 1949, the furniture industry like much else shifted
focus to function over form. Shanghai families, ever thrifty,
continued to use the fancier furniture of an earlier era, and
only now with increased prosperity are they looking for
replacements. But the Shanghainese inclination to inundate
their homes with cookie-cutter Ikea imitations provides the
opportunity to grace your home with a waft of the mystery and
history of Old Shanghai.
Finding your own:
The best treasures are found by walking around older parts
of town and scavenging, picking up discards or buying items
for a pittance from their owners. Dilapidated items can be
cheaply repaired by any furniture factory or antique furniture
store's workshop. There are a handful of stores specializing
in Old Shanghai furniture, including Jianguo Antiques (284
Jianguo Xi Lu, 6466-9504) and Zhenjiahai (98 Wuyuan Lu).
Huaiyi Classical Furniture Company (1450 Hongqiao Lu,
6275-9453) boasts the largest selection, and, upon request,
proprietor Mr. Yang can locate whatever specific items and
styles you may prefer. The Dongtai Lu and Fuyou Lu antique
markets are good for smaller items, but tend to overcharge for
furniture.
