A guide to Asian antiques: Chinese and Japanese decorative arts

Alongside our French and English pieces, Asian antiques have always been part of what we do — Chinese porcelain, Japanese lacquer, carved hardwood furniture and decorative bronzes have been finding their way into English homes for well over three hundred years. If you're new to the field, here's a friendly introduction to what to look for and why these pieces have endured.

Chinoiserie and the long trade with the East

From the seventeenth century onwards, ships of the East India companies brought porcelain, lacquerware and silk back to Europe in huge quantities, and European taste responded with "chinoiserie" — Western furniture and ceramics decorated in an imagined Eastern style. This means the antiques market has two related strands worth knowing apart: genuine Chinese and Japanese pieces made for export or domestic use, and European pieces made in a chinoiserie idiom. Both are collectable, but they are valued differently, so it's worth asking a dealer which you're looking at.

Chinese porcelain: marks, glazes and blue and white

Blue and white export porcelain is the most familiar face of Chinese ceramics in Britain, made in vast quantities during the Qing dynasty for the European market. Look at the glaze for a slightly uneven, glassy quality, and turn a piece over to check the foot rim and any reign mark — marks are a useful clue but were often copied on later pieces made in an earlier style, so they're a starting point for a conversation, not proof of age on their own. Famille rose and famille verte wares, named for their dominant palette, are later and more colourful, and both remain popular with collectors furnishing a room with a bit of warmth and pattern.

Japanese lacquer, ivory and metalwork

Japanese lacquerwork — boxes, cabinets and trays built up in many thin layers of urushi lacquer, sometimes inlaid with mother-of-pearl or dusted with gold — became hugely fashionable in Britain during the Meiji period. Bronze and mixed-metal work from the same era, including okimono figures and vases, shows the extraordinary skill of Japanese metalworkers freed from centuries of sword-fitting traditions and turning their hand to purely decorative pieces. As with any older piece incorporating ivory, ask about its age and any relevant certification before buying or shipping abroad — legitimate antique dealers handle this carefully and can talk you through it.

Furniture: hardwoods, joinery and later reproductions

Chinese hardwood furniture, often in huanghuali or elm, is prized for its restrained lines and beautifully visible joinery — pieces were built with mortice-and-tenon joints rather than nails, a technique that has barely changed in centuries. Because the style has been reproduced continuously, condition and construction matter as much as appearance: look at how a piece has aged, whether the patina is consistent across a surface, and whether joints have been reinforced or replaced. A dealer who can explain the difference between an antique piece and a later or reproduction one is worth having in your corner.

Living with Asian antiques today

• A single well-chosen piece — a lacquer box, a blue and white jar — reads as a quiet accent rather than a theme, and sits happily alongside English or French furniture.
• Group small porcelain or bronze pieces together on a console or mantelpiece rather than spreading them thinly around a room.
• Keep lacquer and hardwood furniture away from direct sunlight and radiators, much as you would any fine antique wood — see our guide oncaring for antique furniture.

We keep a changing selection of Chinese and Japanese pieces alongside our French and English stock — browse the current collection, and seeour jewellery for smaller decorative pieces too. If you'd like to know more about a specific piece, whether one we have in the showroom or something at home, do call us on 07967 604264 or drop by — we're always happy to talk.