From Relic To Vintage Treasure: The Showstopping Dining Table Design Making A Comeback

If you remember seeing glossy black or ivory lacquered dining tables with designs of cranes or delicate florals, you have seen chinoiserie. Derived from the French word for Chinese, chinoiserie is an ornate, Asian-inspired style that once filled American and European showrooms and homes for decades.

The style flourished in the Hollywood Regency era, filling rooms from the 1920s through the 1950s. The combination of high-gloss lacquer finishes, gilded hardware, and hand-crafted details featuring natural elements like birds and flowers immediately captivates attention. Dining tables with matching chairs were a room's centerpiece, but the design choice dropped off as a different, simpler kind of aesthetic took over. 

When clean lines and more minimalistic design trends, like opulent mid-century designs began to fill the spaces of homes, intricate chinoiserie tables were more easily found for sale than displayed with pride in dining areas. Conversations about the origins of the trend also began to take place, with some shoppers growing cautious about the appropriateness of using a style rooted in the Western world's portrayal of East Asian design. Chinoiserie is reemerging, however, as interior designers are now looking for one-of-a-kind pieces and functional objects with meaning. 

Homeowners looking for pieces with some sort of history are choosing unique decor instead of mass-produced options. With its colors, sheen, and detailed patterns, chinoiserie is finding a new fan base among those looking to deck out their houses with statement tables and chairs that can make dining rooms cozier with intentional style. 

Though tracking down some of these pieces can pose a challenge, searching vintage and antique marketplaces, online stores, estate sales, consignment stores, and Facebook Marketplace listings could pay off. Sometimes the "chinoiserie" label is replaced by "Asian-style" or "Oriental" descriptions. Prices can vary from pieces selling for a few hundred dollars to tables and chair sets sold for several thousand.

If you're not ready to commit to a table, more subtle elements like dish sets and napkins can bring some of these chinoiserie design elements into your home. Much like picking up some vintage kitchen items that have become trendy again, vases, frames, bamboo dividers, and wallpapers with chinoiserie patterns can add some of the luxury used in 18th-century homes. Your choices will be sure to become a talking point when hosting your next dinner party.