Chinese Export Furniture
CHINESE EXPORT STYLE
Expanded trade between Europe and East Asia, starting in the 16th century, led to a booming market for exported goods, particularly furniture. This was bolstered by the establishment of the Dutch and English East India Companies at the beginning of the 17th century. From folding screens and chairs to lacquer tables and silver, Chinese Export furniture was in demand and regularly copied and imitated, leading to styles like chinoiserie and Chinese Chippendale.
The expansion of exporting that had strengthened the arts during the Ming dynasty continued into the Qing dynasty era — Chinese designers made many furniture pieces specifically for export, resulting in distinctive designs that mixed traditional techniques with forms appealing to foreign buyers. For instance, cabinetmakers in Canton (modern-day Guangzhou) were prolific in crafting hardwood furniture for export in European styles that involved the expert joinery techniques of Chinese furniture. Designs for Chinese Export porcelain, cabinets, decorative objects and other furniture were often more ornately adorned than they would be for a local audience, such as with mother-of-pearl overlays or surfaces featuring lavish pictorial scenes or gold on black motifs. Some were even commissioned by wealthy European families to be adorned with their coat of arms.
Because lacquer furniture was especially prized, and the resin used to create it was difficult to import as it would harden during the long voyage, artisans in China and Japan exported numerous lacquer pieces. Long before lacquer made its way to Japan, the Chinese treated the material differently. They used it to create smooth, glossy surfaces, but also for carving, an art that began in the 12th century and is exclusively Chinese. These pieces are called cinnabar lacquer after the powdered mercury sulfide (cinnabar) employed to produce their characteristic red hue. A popular form for export was a compact cabinet with drawers, usually displayed on a small table. Undecorated furniture built in Europe was also shipped to China to be lacquered. The international exchange of design would influence furniture into the 19th century and later, informing styles such as Art Deco and Art Nouveau.
Find a collection of antique Chinese Export tables, beds, cupboards, table lamps and more furniture on 1stDibs.
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Style: Chinese Export
Recognized Seller Listings
Chinese Tang Dynasty-Style Terra Cotta Horse with Rider Tomb Figure
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Tang Dynasty-style terra cotta tomb figure of a rider wearing robes and a red sash sitting on a horse that is painted in blue dots and a red bridle, with its head bow...
Category
20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Terracotta
Antique Chinese Carved Wooden Gold and Red Decorative Box
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese circular wooden box with carved top character design and carved geometric foot, painted in gold and red with a fitted lid and fine black painted border pattern.
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Wood
Pair of Antique Chinese Court Genre Scene Design Porcelain Rouleau-Form Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Antique Chinese (late 19th-early 20th Century) porcelain rouleau-form vases with central designs of a court scene with figures in conversation surrounded by colorful geometri...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Han Dynasty-Style Patinated Bronze Handled Pot
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Han Dynasty-style copy of a patinated bronze pot decorated with intricate raised pattern banding wrapping its form, two serpentine handles with hanging rings and a gr...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Brass
Pair of Chinese Burgundy and White Dragon Motif Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Chinese ceramic burgundy vases decorated with the white silhouettes of dragons wrapping around their pear-shaped forms (PRICED AS PAIR).
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Han Dynasty-Style Patinated Bronze Shallow Bowl
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Han Dynasty-style copy of a patinated bronze shallow bowl carved with raised geometric patterned bands wrapping the exterior, and an inscription on the bottom of the ...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Late 18th Century Chinese Glass Painted Scene of a Family Gathering Fruit
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese (18th/19th century) framed glass back painting depicting a family gathering fruit beneath two trees surrounded by birds and butterflies in a wood...
Category
Late 18th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Glass
Pair of Chinese Monumental Imari-Style Blue Porcelain Urns
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Chinese monumental blue and gold floral porcelain vases celebrating Japanese Imari ware in both palette and design, with a central figurative scene of women in a garden flank...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Pair of Antique Chinese Urn Shaped Flowering Fruit Tree Design Porcelain Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Antique Chinese (late 19th-early 20th Century) porcelain vases with urn forms and a design depicting flowering fruit trees in brown, pink and green against an off-white backg...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Late 18th Century Framed Chinese Glass Back Painted Scene of a Family
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese (18th/19th century) framed glass back painting depicting a family beneath two flowering trees surrounded by birds and butterflies in a wooden frame with decorative metal top ...
Category
Late 18th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Glass
Pair of Antique Chinese Multi-Colored Cloisonne Rooster Sculptures
Located in Queens, NY
Pair of early 20th century Chinese cloisonne rooster sculptures with red, white, blue, green, and yellow enamels standing on circular cloisonne bases...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Metal, Enamel
Pair of Chinese Style Filigree Gilt Wood Dragon Floor Lamps
Located in Queens, NY
Pair of Asian Chinese-style (19th Century) carved and filigree gilt wood 6 sided dragon base floor lamps with round brass filigree shade (PRICED AS Pai...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Brass
Antique Chinese Export Silver Picture Frame
Located in New York, NY
Turn-of-the-century Chinese export silver picture frame. Oval window in shaped surround with scrolls and flower heads at top, and leaves, stars, flowers, and heart cartouche vacant o...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
Chinese Export Silver Bowl
Located in London, GB
Chinese Export Silver bowl, circa 1895, with applied decoration of two peacocks on each side of the globular body, and four butterflies flying among peonies and plum blossoms. The bo...
Category
1890s Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
$10,161
Chinese Langyao Emerald Green Glazed Footed Porcelain Vase
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese bulbous footed porcelain vase crafted in the Lang kiln (Langyao) in a dazzling and uniform emerald green glaze with a strong glass-like luster, shift...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Wooden Small Rectangular Chest with Hand Painted Exotic Birds
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese Mid-Century small rectangular hinged chest with metal latch and two side ring handles, hand painted featuring two exotic birds (depicted on the top and front), pine, berries,...
Category
Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Wood
Chinese White and Orange Foo Dog Design Winter Melon Porcelain Jar
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese (Early 20th Century) white porcelain vase with an elongated, rounded winter melon form decorated in an orange foo dog on one side and ch...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Export Porcelain Small Canton Famille Rose Elephant Candlestick
Located in Downingtown, PA
Chinese Export Porcelain small canton famille rose elephant modeled as a candlestick,
circa 1860
The standing Chinese Export porcelain elephant with its trunk up is painted in an iron-red with gilt decoration. On its back is a vase-shaped candle holder rising from the raised saddle painted with a band of green leaves. Below the urn is a long saddle cloth hanging...
Category
Mid-19th Century Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Export Porcelain Armorial Tankard, Mosey with Pulleyne in Prentice Arms
Located in Downingtown, PA
Chinese export porcelain armorial tankard,
Mosey with Pulleyne in Prentice,
circa 1755.
The Chinese Export Tankard unusually painted with both a large armorial and a large crest below a gilt chain band around the rim. Large Famille Rose sprays of flowers are painted to each side.
Dimensions: 5 inches high x 5 3/4 inches wide x 3 1/2 inch diameter.
Reference: Chinese export porcelain, Volume I, David Sanctuary Howard, Page 549, (Q4). The arms are discussed as follows.The arms are of Mosley, Sable a chevron between three pick axes...
Category
Mid-18th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Ceramic, Porcelain
Chinese Carved Wooden Altar Table / Console
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese hardwood altar / console table accented with ornately carved and pierced spandrels and recessed legs and topped with a surface bearing gently sloping sides.
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Wood
Chinese Framed Acrylic and Gold Leaf Painted Panel of a Flowering Tree
Located in Queens, NY
Mid-century Chinese acrylic still life painting in white, brown and beige on a gold leaf background depicting a flowering tree growing from a rocky base with a bird and dragon fly al...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Wood, Acrylic, Giltwood
China Trade Watercolor & Gouache Set of Twelve Paintings of Fruit & Flowers
Located in Downingtown, PA
Superb quality painting!
China Trade Watercolor & Gouache on pith paper,
Set of twelve paintings of fruit and flowers,
Circa 1850-1860
...
Category
Mid-19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Paper
Chinese Export Silver Cocktail Shaker
Located in London, GB
Chinese Export Silver Cocktail Shaker, c1925, embossed and chased with bamboo decoration against a matte background, with a single round vacant cartouche.
Marked with TC, for Tuck C...
Category
1920s Chinese Vintage Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
Chinese Tang Dynasty-Style Camel with Rider Tomb Figure
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Tang Dynasty-style terracotta tomb figure of a bearded rider dressed in a gray coat and brown boots riding a yellow Bactrian camel standin...
Category
20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Terracotta
Chinese Han Dynasty-Style Patinated Bronze Tapered Leg Vessel
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Han Dynasty-style copy of a patinated bronze vessel carved with raised geometric and serpentine patterns, sitting atop three tapered legs and finished with two c-shap...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Pair of Chinese Yellow Gourd Shaped Double Handled Porcelain Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Antique Chinese (Late 19th Century) yellow porcelain vases with gourd forms and handles (mark on bottom, see photos) (PRICED AS PAIR).
Condition: Good; Wear consistent with ...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Antique Chinese Han Dynasty-Style Bronze Fluted Urn
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Han Dynasty-style copy of a patinaed bronze urn with ram head ornamentation below the fluted mouth, raised geometric patterns wrapping the body and a tapered circular...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Bronze
Pair of Chinese White Porcelain Famille Rose Lidded Jars
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Chinese white porcelain famille rose jars painted with verdant trees inhabitated by insects growing up and across the fronts and charac...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Antique Chinese Famille Rose & Bird Design Porcelain Vase Table Lamp
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese table lamp made from an 18th century porcelain vase mounted with wood and brass hardware as a lamp, with a multi-colored fam...
Category
18th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Brass
Chinese Tang Dynasty-Style Sancai Glazed Porcelain Vase
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Tang Dynasty-style vase crafted with the traditional tri-color glaze, or Sancai, utilizing brown, green and off-white, and with a glazed ochre...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Iron and Gilt Buddha Bust
Located in Queens, NY
Asian Chinese style gilt and polychromed cast iron bust of Buddha.
Category
20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Iron, Wrought Iron
Wang Hing Large Chinese Silver Dragon Mug
Located in New York, NY
Chinese silver mug, ca 1910. Straight and upward tapering sides and c-scroll handle. A spare form enlivened with applied wraparound dragon chasing its tail. Marks include stamp for W...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
Antique Chinese Famille Rose Multi-Colored Porcelain Vase Table Lamp
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese table lamp made from an 18th century porcelain vase mounted with wood and brass hardware as a lamp, with a famille rose intr...
Category
18th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Brass
Chinese Export Silver Goblet
Located in London, GB
A Chinese Export Silver Goblet of rare and unusual form. The bowl has four panels, two decorated with figural scenes; a third with mythical beasts; and the fourth, which also has a v...
Category
1860s Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
$10,161
Pair of Antique Chinese Black Glazed Phoenix-Tail Form Porcelain Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Antique Chinese (late 19th-early 20th Century) porcelain phoenix tail-form vases with black glazed exteriors and white interiors (PRICED AS PAIR)
Condition: Good; Wear consi...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Tang Dynasty-Style Terra Cotta Horse with Rider Tomb Figure
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese Tang Dynasty-style terra cotta tomb figure of a girl wearing a red hat riding a brown horse, standing on a textured base.
Category
20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Terracotta
Large Chinese Canton Famille Verte Ormolu Mounted Porcelain Vase
Located in London, GB
Large Chinese Canton famille verte ormolu mounted porcelain vase
Chinese, 19th Century
Height 107cm, diameter 37cm
This magnificent Chinese vase from Canton is decorated in the so-c...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Ormolu
Chinese Beige Botancial Motif Rounded Porcelain Vase
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese (Early 20th Century) bulbous porcelain vase with pink florals and an orange bird amid green leaves on one side and characters on the reverse. There is dark, speckled ...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Antique Chinese Red and Brown Wooden Storage Bench
Located in Queens, NY
Antique Chinese (Early Republic) wooden bench with removeable, red-sided, black two-piece top painted in a gold and red central figurative scene and moths in each corner, supported b...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Wood
Set of 3 Chinese Style Black and White Porcelain Temple Jars
Located in Queens, NY
SET of 3 Asian Chinese style black and white temple jars with covers having green and pink floral decoration (19/20th Cent) *One with a hairline crack. (PRICED AS SET) (matching pair...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Pair of Chinese Blue Tole Palm Tree and Man Table Lamps
Located in Queens, NY
Pair of Chinese light blue tole table lamps depicting a man holding a fan sitting in the shade of a palm tree. (PRICED AS Pair)(Companion lamps: NWL2012)
On...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Metal, Brass
Chinese Rosewood Pot Stand
Located in Queens, NY
Asian Chinese-style rosewood jardiniere stand with a fluted lotus design over a carved filigree round base with 4 feet.
Category
20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Wood, Rosewood
Chinese Yuan-Style Dark Blue and White Dragon Porcelain Pot
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese bulbous, dark blue porcelain pot crafted in the Yuan Dynasty style, wrapped in the dynamic white shape of a dragon and accented with foo dog ornamentation along the sides.
S...
Category
20th Century Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Antique Chinese Orange and White Cartouche Porcelain Table Lamp
Located in Queens, NY
"Antique Chinese (Early 20th Century) table lamp made from a round, luster ceramic vase with an orange and gold hexagonal patterned ground against two white cartouches depicting natu...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Metal, Brass
Pair of Chinese Doucai Double Ear Porcelain Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Chinese (early 20th Century) porcelain double ear vases decorated using Doucai techniques - a process combining underglaze and overglaze decoration - and handles referred to ...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
$12,500 / set
Chinese Green and Red Faded Floral Porcelain Urn
Located in Queens, NY
"Antique Chinese (Late 19th Century) white porcelain urn decorated with a faded green and red floral pattern and accented with pale pink scrolled handles along the neck.
Signs of we...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Antique 1900s Chinese Silver Vinaigrette
Located in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne
An exceptional, fine and impressive antique Chinese silver vinaigrette in the form of a purse; an addition to our silver boxes collection
This excep...
Category
Early 1900s Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
China Trade Set of Six Sunqua Still Life of Fruit & Flowers Paintings
By Sunqua
Located in Downingtown, PA
China Trade set of six Gouache Still Life Paintings of Fruit & Flowers on Pith Paper,
Each Signed Sunqua,
mid-19th century
The fine China Trade pith paper painting...
Category
Mid-19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Paper
Chinese Speckled Maroon Glazed Porcelain Vase
Located in Queens, NY
"Chinese porcelain vase with a fluted opening and a speckled maroon finish that adds dimension to its rounded base, sitting atop an earthtone glazed foot.
Glaze chip at center."
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Export Silver Goblet
Located in London, GB
Chinese Export Silver Goblet embossed and chased with a single dragon around the bowl and with an applied shield-shaped cartouche. The goblet dates from around 1900, was made by Bao ...
Category
Early 1900s Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
Chinese White and Multicolor Floral and Vine Motif Meiping Porcelain Urn
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese white porcelain vase with a Meiping form decorated in swirling green vines interspersed with colorful florals.
Condition: Good; Wear consistent with age and use
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Yellow and Cherry Blossom Design Porcelain Sleeve Vase
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese yellow porcelain sleeve vase with cherry blossom branches and birds in a pale neutral palette, wrapping all four sides and growing up t...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Pair of Chinese Style Black and White Floral Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Asian Chinese style black and white cylindrical shaped flared top vases with green and pink floral decoration (19/20th Cent) (one with a hairline crack) (PRICED AS PAIR)(matc...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Pair of Chinese Hardwood Pedestal Stands
Located in Queens, NY
Pair of Asian Chinese (18/19th Cent) hardwood pedestal stands with celadon jade bats inserted into a carved apron under top with a box form stretcher.
Category
Early 19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Jade
$45,000 / set
Pair of Chinese Song Dynasty Style Beige Cong Vases
Located in Queens, NY
PAIR of Antique Chinese Song Dynasty-style (late 19th Century) vases with traditional cong forms, beige crackle finishes, and round mouths and bases (PRICED AS PAIR).
Condition: Goo...
Category
19th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
18th Century Chinese Export Famille Rose Porcelain Deep Basin
Located in Downingtown, PA
Rare Chinese export famille rose large porcelain basin,
Mid-18th Century.
The unusual Chinese Export famille rose deep basin is finely painted with a flowering branch design with t...
Category
Mid-18th Century Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Asian Chinese Style Brown Lacquered Gilt Medallion Coffee Table
Located in Queens, NY
Asian Chinese-style (20th Century) brown lacquered square coffee table with gilt star trim and a large round center medallion with figure...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Gold Plate
Chinese Export Silver Card Case
Located in London, GB
Chinese Export Silver Card Case, circa 1880, embossed and chased with a classic Peking opera scene featuring a monumental arch inscribed with “Shepanshan” (蛇盘山), a place name from Jo...
Category
1880s Chinese Antique Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Silver
Chinese White and Blue Raised Rose Bush Design Porcelain Vase
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese white porcelain vase with a bulbous body decorated in blue koi, cranes, clouds and vegetation, surrounding a central raised, pierced rose bush on each side. The thin neck fea...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Porcelain Octagonal Multi-Colored Floral and Vase Motif Table Lamp
Located in Queens, NY
Chinese porcelain table lamp comprised of a porcelain vase with eight multi-colored sides featuring floral and vase motifs with raised decorative pomegranates around the neck, mounte...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Furniture
Materials
Brass
Chinese Export furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Chinese Export furniture for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage furniture created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include asian art and furniture, decorative objects, serveware, ceramics, silver and glass and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with ceramic, porcelain and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Chinese Export furniture made in a specific country, there are Asia, East Asia, and China pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original furniture, popular names associated with this style include Europa Antiques, Wang Hing & Co., Luen Wo, and Hung Chong & Co.. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for furniture differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $40 and tops out at $216,780 while the average work can sell for $1,998.