The mystery of the Chinese antiques
We’re crowd-sourcing the origins of this breathtaking donation. Will you help?
By Michael Bongiorni
SF Goodwill
OK, I’ll admit it. When I picked up a voicemail message from a San Francisco gentleman who wanted to donate “a few odd sticks of furniture,” a dose of skepticism came over me. While Goodwill gladly accepts a wide variety of donated household furniture for resale, I’ve seen my share of tattered couches and battered bookcases come through our doors. Even when the donor explained that these pieces were part of his dear wife’s estate, I wasn’t ready to expect much.
Then I saw the pictures.
Click on the photos below to see details on each piece.
Our donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, chose Goodwill as the recipient of these treasures from his wife’s estate at her bequest. She believed in our mission and wanted to help. Now it’s our job to determine the history and origin of this incredible donation and begin to estimate its value. That’s where you come in.
Does your friend or co-worker know Chinese antiques?
We’re activating the power of our Goodwill community to see what we can learn from the wisdom of the crowd – the crowd who knows something about Chinese antiques, that is. Might you know someone in the field of Chinese history or antiquities? An interior designer or antiques dealer who knows their stuff? Please forward this link to them via email, post it to your Facebook page, or tweet about it. The more people we can reach, the more we’ll learn. (Yes, we could simply pay for a good appraisal, but what fun would that be?)
There are six pieces in all, from an incredible Wedding Chest to a Buddhist Altarpiece with carvings so beautiful it makes you want to cry. Click through the images below for a closer look and the dimensions of each piece.
Once we establish what we have and a rough idea of what each is worth, we’ll place the pieces in the window of one of our San Francisco stores and auction them off on the Web to the highest bidder. We are so honored to receive a donation of such rare quality, we’re determined to maximize their value. The money we raise at Goodwill goes directly into programs that transform lives, create jobs, and build a stronger and more sustainable Bay Area community.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Mystery of the Chinese Antiques, where we’ll reveal what we’ve learned about these treasures. Should your family own objects that you hold dear but are ready to see serve the greater good, please contact my colleague Scott M. Bruner in our downtown headquarters.
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Try talking to the people at Home Consignments in Corte Madera, CA. I go there often and they always have Chinese trunks and furniture. I bought one there myself.
Thank you,
Goodwill has worked with them in the past when we received some very large amoires. You may now veiw the items at our Fillmore Store.
Bonhams and ButterFields does free appraisals at their location in Potrero Hill once every month. It is somewhat like a cool antiques roadshow type of deal. Might be worth checking out!
Dear Adam:
Thank you for responding. We are going to contact Bonhams and Butterfield. By the way, you may view the items at our Fillmore Store.
Michael Bongiorni
they look authentic — can you reach out to a local museum or university to see what value they might have? i know that the more valuable they are the better for the work of Goodwill have fingers crossed! then again, and this is my silly side — perhaps they are a martha stewart project … love the other posts too, great ideas on how to chase down what they are and where they came from!
Thank you I have reached out to a friend that is on the staff at The Asian Art Museum. We reveiwed the photos and she felt that the majority of the furniture is frm Post Imperial China 1911- 1949 and was made for export. It has been fun learning about these items and more about history.
Michael Bongioni
Update on the Mystery of the Chinese Furniture. First of all, let me tell you haow much fun it has been learing about this beautiful donation. You can now veiw the furniture at our Fillmore store, 1669 Fillmore Steet in San Francisco. Most of the items are from post Imperial China (1911-1949)
They were most likely created for export to the San Francisco market place.
Godowill has decieded to put the items up for sale on the Lunar New Year. January 23, 2012. We will keep you posted with more details.
Michael Bongiorni
Eurasian Interiors in the Marina sells furniture that is very similar to what you have here, perhaps you can get in touch with them. I am somewhat familiar with antique and “not so” antique (i.e. probably less than 150 years old) Chinese furniture from having lived in Beijing for 3 years and imported several pieces to San Francisco when I moved here in 2009. But, I would not be able to tell definitively whether the pieces that were donated are antique or not, except that it is nigh on impossible to ship anything that is considered a relic (i.e. over 150 years old) out of China. Even non antique pieces are really nice though, I have several similar pieces in my home now and enjoy them immensely. Hope this helps and let me know if you need anything more.
Judy Chan Colon