The shape symbol of Guangsuo furniture

The Guangzuo mahogany furniture of the Qing Dynasty is a product of the fusion of Chinese and Western arts and cultures. As it absorbs Western art, it presents a different form of expression from traditional classical Chinese furniture. Most of Guangsuo furniture has a girdle structure, the legs and feet are pursued with fine carving, and the details are characterized by carp belly, claw horns, and cirrus.

Guangzuo furniture pays attention to the carving of legs and feet, and the decoration pattern pursues luxury. It has a big contrast with the simple Su furniture. Take the "Rosewood Carved Dragon Armchair" as an example. This chair is currently hidden in the Guangdong Provincial Museum. The front legs and front teeth are engraved with high-relief dragon and flower patterns, three-curved legs, tiger claw feet, and carved and decorative parts of the legs and feet are extremely complicated and delicate, belonging to the typical furniture influenced by Western culture in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.

Carp belly. It is the most prominent among the chair furniture of Guangsuo Furniture and is one of the symbolic components of Guangsuo Furniture.

Sheepfoot. In Cantonese furniture, the common leg and foot styles are tiger claw feet, sheep feet, shrimp feet, animal head feet and hook feet, among which the sheep feet are the most common and the most representative. This style of legs and feet is reflected in table and chair furniture.

Gongzi. It is very common in the seats of the late Qing Dynasty, and its position is usually slightly higher than that of the ordinary chair stool, which is convenient for cleaning the space under the chair stool, which is quite humanized.

Cirrus moire. The Cantonese people with cirrus moiré are called "bucket hooks", which are divided into "flat bucket hooks" and "tip bucket hooks" according to their different shapes. The author believes that the "tip bucket hooks" are more representative. This pattern is also called "duck tail" by the locals. It is a common style of widely-made furniture in the late Qing Dynasty. It was developed from the square horn cirrus style ("flat bucket hook") in the early Qing Dynasty. The square horn of the cirrus cloud evolved into Fillet, lively and dexterous shape, full shape like duck tail, so named.

In addition to the above features, on the armrests of some widely-made chairs, they also like to use delicate and delicate arcs and S shapes.


With the passage of time, the styling characteristics of Guangsuo furniture are also different. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, some bolder design styles appeared in Guangsuo furniture, such as a rotatable one-legged round table, etc. These furniture refer more to the style of Western furniture, pursuing the practicality of the furniture, and enriching the traditional furniture in China type.

As a representative of Qing-style furniture, Guangzuo Furniture impressed the Qing Dynasty rulers with its unique artistic charm, and became the dominant style of palace furniture, which had a profound influence on Beijing-made furniture. In fact, no matter whether it is Guang Zuo, Jing Zuo, or Su Zuo, it is a treasure in China's traditional furniture. There are fine products in every genre, as well as general products and even inferior products. Here, to pay tribute to those furniture craftsmen who have created artistic splendor, they poured out blossoms with unknown sweat, which is rich and rich in the fertile soil of traditional Chinese art.