Asian Furniture Development History

Asian Furniture Development History

Since the intricate craftsmanship, quality and value of this furniture was discovered by travellers, colonialists and historians, these are the exact same qualities which still keeps it in such high demand in the market all around the world and the Asian furniture market has been growing rapidly since the 1990’s and production is mainly fuelled by export demands. The variety and abundance of available raw materials, the existence of companies specialising in furniture export and a strong force of skilled workers using the latest in manufacturing equipment are all factors which contribute to the global demand for Asian furniture, which is also commonly known as Oriental furniture.

Asia is the largest continent with very unique, cultural countries. Each country has it’s own diverse and deep-rooted traditions which reflect on their furniture and homes. It’s very difficult to categorize Oriental furniture as there are several variations which are all exquisite in their own way. However, people more often than not think of Chinese and Japanese furniture when refering to Asian furniture. The British rule of India and Burma also introduced furniture and decoration from these regions to the rest of the world and made them highly popular, while bringing about the design of colonial furniture made for the British. The Oriental influence on Europe during the 1800’s came mostly from these countries. While Japan and China have always been influential in representing Asian design, especially the influence of China’s dynasties on many other Asian countries, they had a more profound affect on western taste during the early 1900’s and especially after World War One. More frequent travel over the last 200 years also enabled people to visit the huge continent of Asia and bring back authentic oriental furniture. Now, Asian countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand to name but a few have grown in popularity and renown regarding their own particular traditional forms of furniture.

Japanese furniture often uses solid wood such as elm, gingko and kiri wood. The use of uncarved wood and bamboo and the use of heavy lacquers are popular Chinese styles who are well-known for being gifted artisans and Chinese pieces are extremely decorative. Chinese and Japanese styles are characterized with bamboo with some Asian characters or symbols on it. Southeast Asian furniture is usually dark brown in color with a lot of Hindu-influenced carving. Koreans are quite religious and this reflects on their furniture craftsmanship by using a variety of auspicious signs and symbols. Taiwanese furniture is distinctive for its widespread use of black-ink decoration. Philippine furniture is made from bamboo, rattan or exquisitely carved wood. Other items include snake or crocodile skin leather products, antiques and shell products. All handcrafted Asian furniture products pay attention to detail and display high artistic quality while bamboo and wood features heavily on all Asian styles.

Unique Asian furniture has done much to contribute to the markets of Asia and there are seven major producers which stand out; Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Korea and Taiwan. The combined production of these countries reached USD $1,828 million in the year 2000. Among these the leading producers are Korea and Taiwan, however, other Asian countries are on the rise and the Malaysian furniture industry has been on a steady surge upwards since 1999 with the USA accounting for almost 34 percent of the furniture imports from Malaysia in 2005. Europe, Scandinavia and Australia are have also bought considerably into the Asian furniture market over the past two decades.

In terms of what the future of Asian furniture exports is expected to look like, Asia in general has experienced an incredible demand for its manufactured goods from some of the world's largest markets, particularly the United States, and this trend is presumed to continue for many years to come providing the quality standards and requirements continue to be met.

For more information on Asian Furniture, please go to

http://www.Furniture-Asian.com

.