There is a cloud in New Gegu Yaolun: "Dice white nanmu comes from Mahu House in West Shu, and its texture is not straight, and its flowers are as expensive as landscape figures. Sichuan is also rare, also known as Dice White Nan. Today, the vulgar clouds fight against the white south. " According to the introduction of natural history, Castanopsis eyrei's origin, trunk, branches and leaves, and texture are consistent with those of Phoebe bournei, and it is estimated that it is the same tree species.
"Antique Guide" mentioned: "Birch is produced in Liaodong, wood is not expensive, and its skin can be wrapped in bows. But the birch is covered with scabies, commonly known as birch bag. The saw is horizontal, with beautiful patterns, countertops, counter surfaces, etc. Commonly used, especially birch shadows. "
The material of shadow wood seems to be taken from the trunk, and its wood grain shape is described as "full of grapes" according to the introduction of the article Dice Bai Nan in New Gegu Yaolun and the article Shadow wood making in Natural History Yao Lan. However, in the article "Full of Grapes" in "New Gegu Tips", it is recorded: "It is especially wonderful for a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send a table full of grapes. The seamless cloud is the root of a thousand-year-old tree. " We still often hear the old master refer to this kind of shadow wood as birch root, nanmu root and so on. It is understood that shadow trees are mostly taken from tree roots, and a few are taken from tree trunks.
economic value
Wood carving is very difficult, and there was no modern technical level in the old days. Most of the wood collections in international auctions are handed down furniture with simple decorative patterns, and the transaction rate is still outstanding. Sandalwood has the strongest texture and the heaviest weight among all kinds of hardwoods, and is not easy to grow. Although it is not as gorgeous as Huang Huali wood, its quiet and ancient nature is unmatched by any other wood. Solid wood furniture itself belongs to extremely luxurious family and business decoration. Solid wood furniture with history, sculpture and ornaments, as a commercial investment, has always been favored by high-end buyers. Facing the carved wooden eagle ornaments of Venus rosewood, you are eligible to get a considerable market price. Many tree galls taken from the trunk are caused by tree diseases, so the number is very small. There are many strange galls in the south, while there are many large galls in the north. "On Gegu and Mu Yi" contains beech: "Beech comes from Liaodong and Shanxi, and there are birch on the tree. The flowers are fine and lovely, and the big ones are few; Burdock, the flowers are big and thick, and the tree growers also have tumors. There are beech trees in the north, mostly willow trees, which are hard and hard and can be used as saddle hammers. "
The shadow wood and beech wood mentioned here have different materials and different tree species, but the texture characteristics are generally the same, so it is difficult to distinguish them after they are made into real objects, so that people often confuse shadow wood and beech wood, some of which are called shadow wood and others are called beech wood. Because beech wood is rarer than other materials, most of it is used as fabric, surrounded by other hardwoods, and the world can see wooden furniture at a glance. use
You can make small wooden ornaments, or slice them and embed them in wood with wood grains.
Key points of identification of beech
The texture of the old beech is clear and beautiful; The new beech is not clear and the texture is messy.
The sturdy old beech is tepid and does not go out of shape, while the new beech is easy to arch and go out of shape.
Beech was not widely used in furniture in the early Ming Dynasty because its output was not high and it was only used as a mosaic on the surface of furniture. Beech has always been used as decorative material in Soviet-style furniture, which was used in furniture in the early Ming Dynasty. After the mid-Qing Dynasty, beech appeared in a large number on mahogany furniture. Generally used as a table center, a table center, a few centers, a chair back center, a chair face center, a cabinet door center, etc. It can also be used for decoration alone or together with other wood.
In the Ming Dynasty's Su-style beech furniture, the notable feature is that the "well" shaped support belt is usually used underwater as the core plate to strengthen the support of the panel. In the Qing Dynasty, beech was also used in furniture in Guangdong. Different from Soviet furniture, it uses imported agarwood and pear galls as inlays, which increases the number of household beech trees and is often used to make stationery such as small ornaments and pen containers.
Ming-style furniture made of beech, the longer the better. Because furniture collectors are very experienced, a famous elder told me that you should always clean beech furniture. Wipe, wipe with a cloth, or wipe with a brown tiger. Remove the floating wax on the furniture surface, and keep the wax infiltrated into the wood grain, so that the wood is bright but not dry, showing a moist, subtle and elegant temperament.
At present, there are many shadow trees of rosewood on the market, (big fruit rosewood or Buddha's head gall), and there are few shadows of rosewood. The shadow of rosewood is fragrant when rubbed quickly by hand, but rosewood is not or very light, and it can hardly be smelled!
The highest realm of shadow wood is the shadow of Jin Sinan and the shadow of golden camphor tree! Covered with Hu Hua, the flowers are shaped like small thin grape grains and stems and leaves. They are famous for their grapes. Very elegant (the best! ! ! )