Antiques: Chinese Antiques Information
Chinese antiques information is accessible and very easy to find. If you have the combination of an Internet connection and a good arts library, you are armed with the two most important resources. Many dealers and just plain old Chinese antique buffs have developed their own websites.
Start at the Internet When Searching for Chinese Antiques Information
No matter which search engine you choose, it will generate several, if not, hundreds of sites with information on everything from Chinese carpenters to Chinese furniture importers. You should be able to gain cursory knowledge about everything you want to know by spending a short period of time in front of your computer.
However, the computer is not for everyone. There are many excellent books that have been published about Chinese antiques. Oftentimes these books serve a dual purpose. Not only are they chock full of information, but they are also beautiful to look at and serve as pleasant coffee table books. In general, they are quite detailed and contain beautiful pictures of the furniture.
Seeing what pieces look like is very important. If you cannot be in front of a piece, looking at a picture is the second best alternative. Although pictures can never capture the true essence of a piece, they are better than imagining what one Chinese chest from the Ming dynasty might look like. As discussed earlier, Chinese antiques information is available to almost everyone with an Internet connection and a library. One can only gain a limited amount of knowledge without being in the same room as the antiques but it is better to look at a picture than nothing at all.