Trunks were the workhorse of Qing Dynasty home furnishing being versatile and portable. They were used for everything from transporting money and valuables to storage of paintings and out of season garments. Most trunks from the provincial areas were made from inferior woods and so were painted with regionally popular designs. Trunks made from better woods were usually left unpainted. Locking mechanisms were essential for trunk storage as access would have been limited to only a few members of the household.
It is widely held that the Chinese chair epitomizes the pinnacle of Chinese design and craftsmanship. As in most other Asian cultures, the custom in ancient Chinese homes was to kneel or sit cross-legged on floor level mats.
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Some time during the Tang dynasty (618 - 907 AD), higher seats first started to appear amongst the wealthy elite. Over the next few centuries furniture design and construction continued to be refined, leading up to the late Ming period (1368 - 1644), which is considered by most to be the golden age of Chinese furniture. Many of the designs that first appeared during this period remained unchanged, in some cases for hundreds of years. One simple example of their technical superiority is the appearance early on in China of the curved backrest, designed to both please the eye and to increase a chair's comfort. This same feature did not appear in European furniture making until centuries later.
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