About PAGODA RED
PAGODA RED is the destination for collectors who love the art, history, style & spirit of Asian and handcrafted objects. Every item is authentic—historically and geographically—and wears the patina of many lifetimes served in homes, palaces and gardens. In the early 1990s, owner Betsy Nathan studied Mandarin and moved to Beijing. There, she met a group of legendary Chinese furniture experts. Under their mentorship, she became an expert in provenance, craftsmanship, joinery and history. Nathan moved back to the United States and established her first showroom in Chicago i...Read More
Featured Pieces
Chinese Woven Field Basket, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Tightly woven of natural reeds, this neat basket likely contained offerings of food, money and fruits presented as part of ritual ancestor worship on a family altar. Over the course ...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Decorative Baskets
Materials
Willow
Zhenzhu Meditation Stone Slab
Located in Chicago, IL
This expansive stone slab is formed of zhenzhu stone, a conglomerate limestone extracted from Lake Tai in Jiangsu province. Speckled with almost painterly daubs of color, the sought-...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Garden Ornaments
Materials
Stone
Vintage Chinese Shanghai Deco Glass Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
In the early 20th century, major Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin were swept up in the Art Deco design movement. Design, architecture, art, fashion, and furniture were all...
Category
Vintage 1920s Chinese Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
Materials
Art Glass
Chinese Willow Market Basket, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
It is easy to imagine someone, long ago, walking to market on a beautiful summer day with this beautiful basket slung over their arm. Basket making is an ancient and humble craft, bu...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Rustic Decorative Baskets
Materials
Willow
Chinese Underglaze Indigo and Copper Fish Jar
Located in Chicago, IL
A modern artisan applied the vibrant copper and indigo imagery before firing, a process of under glazing that was developed during the Song dynasty. The finely painted symbols, fish,...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Jars
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Cloud White Bottleneck Vase
Located in Chicago, IL
The location of a 2,000-year-old ceramics industry, Jiangxi province is experiencing a creative renaissance, attracting artisans eager to master and expand upon traditional ceramic t...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Minimalist Vases
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Vintage Vendor Tray, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Simple lines, a modest form, and a layer of hand-brushed lacquer give this shallow Qing-dynasty footed tray a provincial charm. A tray like this would have been used by a street vend...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Platters and Serveware
Materials
Elm
Korean Brass Fish Lock, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Like the sparkle of fish’s scales, this 19th-century fish lock from North Korea once perked up the façade of a lacquered chest or cabinet with a flash of golden brass. Demonstrating ...
Category
Early 20th Century Korean More Asian Art, Objects and Furniture
Materials
Brass
African Bura Stone Funerary Marker
Located in Chicago, IL
This abstract stone sculpture is a funerary marker of the Bura people of the Niger/Mali region. Little is known about the Bura civilization (c. 200 to 1000 AD), but it shares many of...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Nigerien Primitive Mounted Objects
Materials
Stone
Maya Tetrapod Terracotta Bowl
Located in Chicago, IL
This wide-mouthed bowl raised upon four bulbous feet is formed in the style of mammiform tetrapod serving plates from the Maya lowlands of Mexico and Guatemala. Used as a presentatio...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Central American Pre-Columbian Ceramics
Materials
Ceramic
Chinese Blue and White Fish Plate, circa 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
A traditional motif in Chinese art, the fish on this hand painted 19th century Provincial plate represents a blessing for wealth. Chinese symbols take on added meaning and nuance whe...
Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Ceramic
Yoruba Style Figurative Stool
Located in Chicago, IL
Carved in a classic Yoruba form, this figurative stool is unusual for its highly patterned painted surface. Using traditional techniques, a single tree trunk was carved into a column...
Category
Mid-20th Century Nigerian Tribal Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Wood
More About PAGODA RED
Creators Featured In This Store