Our latest home accessories – lacquerware, lighting and more

Over the past few months we have been busy sourcing a much wider range of smaller accessories, most of which have now arrived and are already available to buy in our Saltaire showroom or on the website. We import these direct with our containers of furniture and antiques from Shanghai and Beijing, mostly pieces that I’ve seen and picked up on recent buying trips. Some are one offs, but there are also pieces that we will continue to hold in stock, along with other items as we develop the range.

 Our silver bracelets, bangles and necklaces have proved very popular in the shop. These are hand worked by one of the many ethnic minorities in China – the ‘Miao‘ people, who live predominantly in the country’s southern provinces. The jewellery that they make is beautifully crafted and often very ornate. Much of this is a little too much for western tastes (take a look at our framed print of a couple of Miao children in traditional dress for a great example), but the simpler bracelets, hairpins and earings are wonderful. The larger necklaces may be a little more difficult to pull off at the office party, but look great on a stand as an ornament or framed on a wall. You can already see a selection of the bracelets and necklaces on our website, but we plan to source more in the future, so look out for these in the coming months.

More recently we have also started to stock some wonderful lacquerware and stoneware from Guilin in southern China. The area around Guilin is famous for its stunning limestone formations – making it one of the best know tourist destinations in China. It is also a centre for a particular type of lacquerware – vases and other ornamental pieces in a deep, vibrant red lacquer that is carved in traditional designs such as peony flowers. Along with these pieces the workshops there also produce ornaments in a mixture of limestone and resin – buddhas, ‘Tang’ horses and many more unusual items. Again, you can view and order some of these items online and we also stock them in the showroom.

We have also extended our range of lighting recently to include bronze as well as ceramic based lamps, adding to the very popular silk table lamps and bird cage lamps that we already stock. We plan to continue adding to the collection, and I will be heading over to Beijing and Shanghai again in a couple of months to look for other interesting pieces to ship back to the UK.

To see a large selection of all of these pieces, click onto the accessories section of our website. And don’t forget also to check out some of our smaller one off antique pieces – painted boxes, wooden buckets, food baskets and more.