When was the most prosperous period of ancient furniture in China?

The heyday of ancient furniture in China was the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Artistic style and decorative features of furniture in Ming and Qing dynasties;

A, Ming style furniture:

1, Ming-style furniture refers to the furniture made from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, which is exquisite, elegant, simple and has a specific modeling style. Ming-style furniture, with its rationalization of structure and artistry of modeling, fully demonstrates its concise, bright and simple artistic style. And he is good at combining elegance and vulgarity in one furnace, which is elegant and practical, vulgar without hurting elegance, and achieves the perfect unity of aesthetics, mechanics and function.

2. The overall structure of Ming-style furniture is mainly in the form of frame, showing two structural characteristics: waist-binding and open waist. Waistless furniture is mainly round legs and side feet, and its shape is simple and steady. Corset furniture with straight legs, or three-legged or bulging legs, dignified and beautiful. These two methods give people a sense of honesty and stability, and successfully embody the beauty of modeling combining science and art.

3. Another feature of Ming-style furniture modeling is that it pays special attention to the beauty of lines. It doesn't win by complicated ornamentation, but focuses on the line changes of the external contour of furniture, which varies from thing to thing and shows its appearance, giving people a strong beauty of lines. For example, the S-shaped chair back not only conforms to people's physiological characteristics, but also has a unique style. The change and application of line foot is another embodiment of line modeling of Ming furniture. Foot refers to the molding line at the edge of furniture frame. Through the combination of plane, concave surface, convex surface, negative line and positive line in different proportions, the ever-changing geometric cross section is formed, which achieves unique decorative effect and is very artistic.

4. The decorative techniques of Ming-style furniture are exquisite, mainly embodied in wood grain, carving, inlay and accessory components, reaching an unprecedented level. In the selection of materials, great attention is paid to the texture of wood. All "beautiful materials" with clear and beautiful texture are always placed in the prominent part of furniture, which is particularly useful and meaningful. There are many carving techniques, such as relief, through carving, the combination of relief with through carving and round carving, among which relief is the most commonly used. Sculpture has a wide range of themes, including rolling grass, lotus pattern, moire pattern, ganoderma lucidum, dragon pattern, insect pattern, flowers and birds, animals, landscapes, figures, Feng Huangwen and religious patterns. The knife method has smooth lines and vivid images. The carved parts are mostly in backboard, dental plate, teeth, shell and so on. In furniture, small-area carvings are often made, so that the exquisite decorative effect is particularly eye-catching.

Second, qing-style furniture:

1, furniture in the early Qing dynasty followed the Ming style. However, with the development of history, the integration of Manchu and Han cultures, and the influence of cultural exchanges between China and the West, qing-style furniture's style, which paid attention to form, pursued originality and advocated gorgeous style, was gradually formed in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and reached its peak in the Qianlong period. Furniture in Qianlong period, especially palace furniture, is a typical representative of qing-style furniture, with excellent materials and exquisite craftsmanship, especially decoration, and the combination of various materials and techniques.

2. In terms of materials, before the mid-Qing Dynasty, precious hardwood with deep color, dense texture and fine texture was commonly used in furniture, followed by rosewood and chicken wing wood. Pay attention to uniform materials and don't mix all kinds of wood. In order to ensure the consistency and firmness of appearance, color and texture, some furniture is made of a whole piece of wood instead of small materials. After the mid-Qing dynasty, the above three kinds of wood were gradually lacking, so mahogany was used instead.

3. In terms of decoration, in order to pursue rich and luxurious decorative effects, we have made full use of various decorative materials and used various arts and crafts means, which can be described as a collection of decorative techniques. However, some qing-style furniture's decoration for decoration and over-carving have also become a major shortcoming of qing-style furniture.

4. Carving, inlay and description are the most commonly used decorative techniques in qing-style furniture. The carving knife is meticulous, and through carving is the most commonly used, highlighting the ethereal and transparent effect, and sometimes combining with relief to achieve a better three-dimensional effect. Inlays are widely used in qing-style furniture, including wood inlays, bamboo inlays, bone inlays, tooth inlays, stone inlays, mother-of-pearl inlays, treasure inlays, enamel inlays and even agate inlays, amber inlays and so on. Rich in variety, colorful and dazzling. Among them, enamel technology was introduced from abroad and was only used for furniture decoration in Qing Dynasty. Gold lacquer and painting are also common decorative means in qing dynasty furniture, and auspicious patterns are qing-style furniture's favorite decorative themes.

5. Looking at qing-style furniture, represented by the mid-Qing Dynasty, the general characteristics are rich varieties, changeable styles and the pursuit of kit kat; The decoration is rich and luxurious, which can absorb foreign culture and integrate Chinese and western arts. It highlights the stability and massiness in modeling, and integrates superb skills such as carving, inlay, description, painting, painting and rhinoceros removal in production. In terms of varieties, there are not only the types of Ming dynasty furniture, but also many new furniture forms, which makes qing-style furniture a distinctive feature different from the Ming dynasty style.