Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1904 — CURIOUS THINGS FROM CHINA [ARTICLE]

CURIOUS THINGS FROM CHINA

The Most Magnificent Beds Ever Been Are Part of the Celestial Empire’s * World’s Pair Exhibit. The Chinese exhibit at the World's Fair Is filled with pleasing surprises. Some of the most magnificent articles of furniture are a part of this wonderful display. The carving and Inlaying of ivory, bone and wood Illustrate the marvelous skill of the Chinese. Models Included in this Interesting exhibit show the homes and borne life of the Chinese, their weddings and funerals, Chinese tea bouse, restaurant and shop, Chinese weaving and some of the beautiful silks and wearing apparel of the Chinese and their methods of manufacturing them. One feature of the exhibit Is two magnificent Chinese beds, each of which has the appearance of being a small bouse of great beauty. One is a summer bed, the other for winter. The summer bed Is band carved and Inlaid with Ivory and bone figures and landscapes exquisitely carved and so skillfully Joined as to appear a part of the wood. The bed and furniture are of carved bamboo. The bed consists of an anteroom, with tables, chairs and tea stands, and in an Inner room, which is the Blelplng apartment, there Is a couch with coverings of gauzy silks. The winter bed Is still more elaborate. It consists of three compartments. The first contains four chairs, a tea poy and a chest of drawers. This is the sitting apartment The second Is the dressing room, and the third is the sleeping apartment or the conch Itself. The furniture is of rosewood Inlaid with Ivory carving of birds, flowers and trees. The conch Is covered with silks of the finest texture and In gaudy colors. The sleeping compartments are lighted with Chinese lanterns of silk hong at the outer entrance, while the light enters through gauze panels, hand painted and In forms of rosewood inlaid with ivory figures. A table and dish made of highly polished ash, with exquisitely carved bamboo figures Inlaid, are shown. The work Is so artistically done that each article seems to have been made of one piece of wood. There is also a large display of Chinese lanterns made of silk, gauze and other light material and some made of beads artistically arranged with glass centers. The silk and gauze are beautifully hand painted. There are models of some of the great Chinese temples, theaters and arches, showing elaborate carving In wood and Ivory and two large elephant tusks exquisitely carved.