Shenhao starts from the lottery of 1 million

In November 2010, an internationally renowned auction company launched for the first time in the 11 autumn auction, a special sale called "Simple and Meaningful - Ming-style Huanghuali Furniture Boutique". This is also the largest Ming-style auction in China to date. Special auction of Huanghuali furniture.

After the 61 lots of "high-quality products" were unveiled, the buyers who were looking forward to them were not disappointed, and the auction results also did not disappoint the sellers and auction companies.

This Huanghuali special sale not only achieved a "white glove" result (100% of the lots were sold), but the total transaction price was as high as 2.59 million yuan, with an average price of more than 400 million yuan per item.

Among them, a "Ming Huanghuali Cluster Cloud Pattern Horseshoe Legs Six-Post Canopy Bed" was sold at a high price of RM 4312 million, setting a new record for the highest auction price of Huanghuali furniture and becoming "the most expensive bed in history."

In addition, a "pair of four large cabinets with huanghuali and dragon patterns from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty" was also auctioned for 3976 million yuan, becoming "the most expensive cabinet in history."

While collectors and onlookers were still swooning over this, the highest auction record for Huanghuali furniture was quickly refreshed.

On December 2010, 12, at a major auction company in Jinling, in the 12 autumn auction dedicated to Ming and Qing furniture, a "Huanghuali chair made by the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty" finally sold for 2010 million yuan, and the total transaction price including commissions Nearly 6200 million yuan.

This top chair not only became the veritable "No. 1 chair" in history, but also set a new world record for Huanghuali furniture auctions. Of course, it also undoubtedly became the highest price paid for Chinese classical furniture at auction.

In the entire Ming and Qing furniture auction, the total transaction value of 60 lots was as high as 2.08 million yuan, with a transaction rate of 95%.

This new record and the total transaction should make a certain university in Jinling, who went to Beijing for the first time to dig gold, "very happy". Facing the Beijing market that has repeatedly set records for classical furniture auctions, a university in Nanjing, which specializes in classical furniture auctions, made this big move " "Come in" is also expected.

"If you sell it in Jinling, you may not get this price." A senior Huanghuali collector said with deep feeling.

"After all, whether it is the concentration of buyers or the overall strength of buyers, Beijing is second to none in the country."

"This Ming Dynasty huanghuali iron and silver chair is the largest and oldest one we have seen so far, and it belongs to a museum-level collection." The manager of a classical furniture department in Jinling told reporters.

"In furniture collection, the chair is one of the most sought-after objects, and this chair is made of huanghuali aniseed material. Huanghuali is slow to mature. The raw material of huanghuali required to make such a chair has a long period of maturity. It is estimated to be more than 800 years old, or even thousands of years old."

The chair is actually a "mazha with a backrest". It was originally used by the ancients for marching, hunting, and outdoor outings. Later, it gradually evolved into hall furniture and was used as a seat for occasions. We often say that heroes are ranked according to their seniority, which is derived from this, which shows their noble status in furniture.

Later, there was no need to "fold" the high chair into the hall, so people changed it into the four straight legs of a conventional chair, which became the more common "arm chair" later.

"Because they are frequently folded and used, and are easily damaged, the number of chairs handed down from generation to generation is very small. Very few huanghuali chairs from the Ming Dynasty survive. The most optimistic estimate is that there will be no more than ten in the world."

The most important factor why Ming and Qing huanghuali furniture performed well at auction in the autumn of 2010 was the scarcity of its resources.

“The royal family’s love for huanghuali products in the Ming Dynasty led to a large amount of logging of raw materials. By the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the sea huanghuali wood species was on the verge of extinction.

In the following hundreds of years, due to historical reasons, 70% of domestic huanghuali furniture was lost overseas. The few remaining huanghuali in Qionghai Province were mostly made into furniture, tools or houses by the people. The aniseed is almost hard to see. "

Although the price of Ming and Qing huanghuali furniture "jumped several levels" in the autumn auction of 2010, many collectors told reporters that this is still a "price return" because the price of "old" huanghuali furniture is actually Always underestimated.

"Classic furniture, especially huanghuali, has always been a strange phenomenon in the industry, that is, old products cannot be sold as new products, and new products cannot be sold as logs."

In the market, it is quite common for the prices of huanghuali wood and furniture to be upside down.

“The money from selling a set of furniture cannot buy back the raw wood needed to make the same type of furniture.” A boss of Vietnamese huanghuali furniture told reporters.

Because huanghuali wood matures very slowly, it takes at least 500 years before it can be used as log wood for furniture.

The production of huanghuali furniture began in the Ming Dynasty, and the golden age lasted more than a hundred years from the early Qing Dynasty to Qianlong. After Jiaqing, due to the sharp decrease in huanghuali wood, it was almost extinct and was almost no longer produced.

Huanghuali wood grown in the Qionghai area of ​​China has the best quality, and of course the highest price. In addition, Vietnam and other places also produce huanghuali wood, but the quality cannot be compared with Haihuanghuali. The two are different in color, smell, texture, etc. The price difference between the same style of "Yuehuang" and "Haihuang" furniture The highest can be close to 1:10.

However, since Hainan huanghuali has almost disappeared, Vietnamese huanghuali is currently considered to be the best quality among huanghuali. And as early as the early Qing Dynasty, businessmen began to use "Yueli" as "sea pear".

"New huanghuali furniture is generally made of Vietnamese huanghuali. Due to the scarcity of raw materials, and in order to protect the ecological environment, the Vietnamese government has begun to restrict the severe logging of raw materials, formulated corresponding measures, and increased the export tariff of Vietnamese huanghuali. The tariff per kilogram has reached more than 100 yuan.

The price of raw materials and labor costs have increased, and of course the price of finished products has also soared. "

Market conditions at the end of 2010 showed that each ton of Vietnamese huanghuali selected materials reached nearly one million yuan, while the price of plate products reached 200 million to 300 million yuan per ton, an increase of four to five hundred times in eight years.

In fact, the price of sea huanghuali increased 2002 times in 2010 years from 8 to 400.

In 2002, the price of sea huanghuali was only 2 per ton. Now in 2010, the price of sea huanghuali has risen to 800 million per ton. Needless to say, aniseed sheets.

Since the market price of new huanghuali is relatively fast, some ordinary products of "old" huanghuali are even less expensive than "new" huanghuali. "However, once the cultural and historical value of old huanghuali is discovered, its potential for collection and appreciation cannot be underestimated."

"2011-2012 may be the year when Ming and Qing classical furniture, especially huanghuali furniture, has the strongest growth momentum. Ming and Qing huanghuali furniture is likely to become another collection boom after the collection of calligraphy, painting and porcelain."

There are three main driving factors: first, the previous price has been underestimated; second, with the popularity of antique collection, more and more collectors have begun to favor classical furniture culture; third, if collectors collect fine calligraphy and painting and Porcelain also needs matching Ming and Qing classical furniture for display and display.

This will gradually form a huge collection, and the price will continue to rise.

Although the sky-high prices can be expected, it is currently very difficult to collect Ming Dynasty huanghuali furniture. “Collectors are not willing to sell it easily, so they can only go overseas to collect it and return it to China.”