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Asian Wholesale Imports
The Passion of Asia
The passion for oriental beauty and history is captured in the art of collecting Asian art and antiques. Adding the beautiful influence of the Far East to your home, garden or work place can delight the senses and stimulate the imagination.
While in Asia, we see the old pieces of furniture and accessories stacked high in rooms and warehouses, dusty and gray from years of storage. At that moment it seems hard to imagine how beautiful they will be, once they are cleaned and restored to allow the beautiful, rich colors to once again be exposed.
It seems like the pieces are just waiting to take on a new life, in a new home, in a new land. Asian Wholesale Imports has been in business for years offing a wonderland of beautiful and unique furniture, art and accessories from China at wholesale prices.
Discover hundreds of rare and unique collectibles at remarkably low prices:
The Asian Attraction
The romance of China…the Silk Road and the Orient Express, have long captivated our imagination of this exotic land, with glorious visions of fabulous silks, aromatic teas, scented spices, exquisitely designed porcelain, and wonderful furniture. Although in the past it may have taken years for these items to travel in cargo holds en route from Canton (present day Guangzhou) to the West (from 1699 -1842), it now takes only a few weeks for goods from China to reach this country.
How did this happen? During the time of the Cultural Revolution millions of pieces of fine furniture were seized from well-to-do homes, never to be returned. It was a tragic time in history – but a new China has now emerged, and with it an opportunity to once again treasure the beauty of the finely crafted furniture that comes with a long and fascinating history.
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Modern China
The search for simplicity....
Simple, functional, beautiful: the global passion for pared-down style has its roots in Oriental design. Fluid shapes, streamlined room, attention to the art of detailing, all reveal a sense of balance, order and harmony that is at the heart of Eastern ideals.
Interior designers the world over have long looked eastwards for inspiration, and the profusion of Thai and Japanese-inspired decorative elements in hotels, restaurants and homes from London to Sydney to New York is a testament to its wide-ranging appeal. Now Chinese decorative style, at last being recognized for its relevance to modern living, offers a host of ideas for 21st century living. In the past, Chinese style was usually associated with ornate carvings, complex patterns and eye-scorching palette of rich reds and glitzy golds. Read more...
The Chinese Style
Decorating in the Chinese style is a combination of art, science and proper placement of furniture. The basic concept of this science of the Chinese or Feng Shui style has been modified over the centuries to reflect changing needs. Yet Feng Shui’s underlying concept is deceptively simple and universal, alleviate clutter to allow chi, the universal life force, to flow unobstructed, thus purifying the environment with new energy.
New energy can be achieved by moving blocked areas so energy moves at a balanced pace around the entire space, thus welcoming peace and prosperity into the home environment. The Chinese home and furniture design is integral to Feng Shui and to connecting with nature. Read more...
China Style Goes Global
Chinese style is most often associated with ornate carvings, complex patterns and a searing palette of rich reds and glitzy golds. But what is often overlooked is that there is a deep-rooted modernity inherent in Chinese design-an age-old classicism with a sense of balance, order and harmony that appeals to the most modern of minimalists.
With the current global preoccupation with Asian Style from food to interior design to philosophy—it was only a matter of time before attention came to rest on the Chinese aesthetic. Since the opening up of post-Cultural Revolution China in the late 1970s, the country has changed beyond measure. Today, 21st-century China is firmly focused on the race to become a major world player and, in architectural terms, much has been--and is being–destroyed. Traditional dwellings are being replaced with gleaming banks of skyscrapers, but within this cacophony of change, there is a growing band of designers who prefer to look to their roots to find valid decorative directions for the future.
Such designers, many of whom have studied overseas, are blending an international outlook with a pride in their Chinese heritage to produce a new vocabulary of design. Tending to steer away from the ornate, opulent approach, they are basing their ideas on a new kind of Chinese influenced modernism, which incorporates balance lines, natural textures and muted colors. Read more...
Ming and Qing Elegance Redefined
Today’s fashions increasingly embrace simplicity and purity of line. No wonder, then, that Ming dynasty (1368-1644) furniture is experiencing a resurgence. Produced during what was considered to be the golden age of Chinese furniture, Ming’s clean classic lines and architectural elegance are coveted by collectors prepared to pay vast sums for rare, highly grained and intricately constructed pieces.
“It is the timelessness of Chinese classical furniture which places it in the forefront of modern tastes,” says Hong Kong- based premier Ming dealer Grace Wu Bruce.
But it wasn’t always like this. While Ming’s famous blue and white porcelain has long been highly valued in China and the West, the almost unbelievable thing about the dynasty’s furniture is that it has only been considered collectable during the past few decades. The breakthrough came with a detailed study on Ming furniture published in Beijing in 1986 by the renowned scholar Wand Shixiang, which captured the attention of Chinese collectors. Read more...
Chinoiserie Old and New
Cinnabar red, imperial yellow, luxurious silks embroidered with dragon, phoenix and floral motifs, decorative ceramics, glossy lacquerware, jades, bronzes, ornate furniture and gemstones: the opulence of Imperial China retains its exotic appeal today.
So much so that interpretations of its rich colors, patterns and textures are often found in contemporary interiors. Read more...