Altfield are specilists in the importation and supply of antique chinese furniture and celebrate their tradition with an exhibition of antique pieces in their new showroom in London's Kings Road (see Events calendar)

It is their first selling exhibition ever to focus entirely on 18th and 19th Century Chinese furniture made of hetao mu,or Chinese Walnut, one of the least known of the indigenous Chinese woods.Walnut furniture from China has not generally been seen much in the West,and it is an area of study, which is currently creating great interest amongst collectors.

Historically, the most luxurious and sought after of all Chinese furniture was lacquered. Whether painted with further gilt decoration or plain, the lacquer was always applied to a frame of locally sourced wood such as yu mu (elm) or shan mu (fir). However, for fine pieces that were intended to be left with the wood surface visible and polished, the indigenous woods of the area would have been selected, and of these, one of the best quality woods available was hetao mu (walnut).

A densely grained, warm mid-brown coloured hardwood, walnut was primarily used for furniture making in Shanxi, Sha'anxi and Gansu provinces in North Central China. Included in the collection on exhibition are pieces sourced from all three of these provinces.

One feature of many of the walnut domestic storage pieces that are characteristic of Gansu and Sha'anxi is the simplicity of the unadorned flat front plane of their cabinets. With these pieces the lustre of the wood and the simple contrast of the fine brass hardward offer the only decoration. Pairs of cabinets, low chests and k'anfg coffers included in the exhibition clearly show these forms, all of the pieces are also raised on short stylised 'leopard' legs, often associated with these areas.

Classic altar tables and pairs of side tables, stools and chairs are also on display, exhibiting the classic traditional designs one has come to expect of fine 18th Century Chinese furniture. One advantage of using the dense walnut wood is that it allows construction of pieces which combine slim legs, and narrow waists which are particularly graceful in proportion, and strong enough to support the weight and stresses of the pieces.