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Coco Republic - oly - resin twig shelf via
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| Dutch Designer Anke Weiss - Bonsai table |
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| Dutch Designer Anke Weiss - Bonsai table |
.. made from 150 Bonsai trees!
Root furniture
The origins of this style of furniture lay in
China.
Root furniture being a genre where stools, chairs and tables were made
from tree roots, chosen for their knotty, twisted appearance and minimally
pruned and worked.
These odd-looking pieces are depicted in the paintings of
the Song dynasty (920-1279) and may have been produced even earlier. They are,
however, particularly associated with the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and were
made throughout the Quing (1644-1911).
Their rustic simplicity was combined with
ingenious joinery that made the furniture sturdy while interfering as little as
possible with the organic growth pattern of the material.
Artificial ornamentation or carving was never
used on root furniture. Like Chinese sculpture consisting of oddly shaped
stones, it was associated with an attitude toward nature, of seeing natural
forms and details as important sources of philosophical and artistic
stimulation that Taoism and certain Buddhist sects shared.
Root furniture was often found in the rural
retreats of scholar-artists, but its combination of simplicity and
sophistication had a wide appeal, and it was also used by urban officials,
aristocrats, and even some emperors.
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| 1stdips-Chinese Root Carved Table China 1940’s via |
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| Chinese Antique Root Wood Bench via |
