The Sinotique Blog

Sinotique was founded in 1992, and was formerly located at 19-A Mott st. in the historic district of Chinatown. Its new showroom/warehouse/workshop in DUMBO Brooklyn at #70 John St. This blog is an efficient way to keep my friends, family, and clients informed about Sinotique. If you have comments and questions pls. don't hesitate to post them here. I hope you enjoy it. Please be sure to see www.sinotique.com my ecommerce website, and www.70john.com to see my art and design showroom.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Working in the DUMBO workshop

Dale Jeong snuck this picture of me while I was working. He had stopped by my store in Chinatown, and then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to DUMBO to check out my showroom and workshop. I didn't know he snapped this picture until he dropped it off some time later. Dale enjoys photography as a hobby

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Hamptons Cottages and Gardens - Sinotique

One of the reasons I love exhibiting at the Bridgehampton Antiques show is because I get to meet so many interesting people, including designers, stars, and local residents. I met Doug and Lon at The Bridgehampton Antiques show during the summer of '06, shortly after they built their home in the Hamptons. They bought this daybed from me. I had worked on the surface for weeks, applying "butterfly" joints to stabilize two large cracks in it, the butterfly joints were one of the most appealing features to them. I polished the surface to a satin smooth finish. The wood is African ironwood. The base was inspired by Japanese joinery and I think the marriage of the African hand carved slab and the solid American Oak base looked great together.

I'm honored to have it featured in a double page spread in HC&G, their photography is always so beautiful.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Bamboo architectural tiles a big hit

I've been developing my handmade bamboo veneer, usually reserved for my furniture, into a wall tile marketed to interior designers and architects.

These 12" sq. tiles are available in a variety of stain colors as well as natural bamboo tones. Each tile is laminated, finished, stained, and polished by hand.

On this particular wall in the Sinotique Brooklyn Showroom I varied the thicknesses of each tile to add even more dimension and interest to the bamboo.

Orders have been coming in already, and we look forward to making this product not only a Sinotique Exclusive, but a mainstay.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Polo Ralph Lauren Madison Ave. store windows

If you have ever had the pleasure of working with the folks at Polo Ralph Lauren, you'd know how professional, courteous, and careful they are. I helped Brian at Polo to prop for the windows at the flagship store on Madison last year and he was kind enough to not only put my store name on the window as a source for the items they borrowed (see the lower rt. corner of the top photo) , he also sent me the professional photos of the windows once they were completed.

The windows were stunning. I lent them the solid wood barrel shaped stool/end tables, some faux hand painted apples, and some handmade oversized blank books from Thailand.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Restaurants were packed to capacity

My family's tradition of eating out on Christmas day was thwarted this year by the sheer number of diners that descended on Chinatown. We have about a half dozen restaurants that we frequent with a few all time favorites, including Hop Lee at 16 Mott St., and Hop Kee at 21 Mott St., and the new Chatham Restaurant on Chatham Sq. We thought that out of that many restaurants surely we'd be able to fit 10 people in for dinner somewhere, Ha! I walked from restaurant to restaurant with my cellphone in hand, reporting back to my mom that every single one of our favorite places was packed to capacity.
We ended up eating at my mom's house, ordering takeout (which is so easy to do when you live amongst Chinatown's best restaurants) and enjoying a peaceful meal at home.
Chinatown's restaurants needed that injection of commerce to get things really moving as we enter the new year. It was great to see, and although we didn't get to eat out that day, it was encourageing to see Chinatown's restaurant business flourishing.

Christmas in Chinatown was CrazyBusy

Chinatown was buzzing during the week of Christmas! It's not unusual to see thirty or forty people waiting on line to eat at some of Chinatown's favorite restaurants during the holidays, and this Christmas season was no exception. The warm weather and clear skies brought thousands of tourists to Chinatown. Sinotique was open throughout the holiday. What made this year different than previous years was the plethora of European tourists not only browsing but buying! Yay! Bring 'em on! With the slow down in retail sales in general all over the City, the influx of Europeans into Chinatown is surely a welcome sight.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Jewelry for Christmas at Sinotique

Got our shipment of jewelry from India yesterday. Hand carved, polished horn, and ox bone make up the bulk of the collection. A color for every occassion, and at $35.00 for a necklace or choker you can buy one for yourself and a few for gifts.

Got really colorful bangles too, at two for $14.00

Photographer Dah Len

Taiwanese born photographer Dah Len has been a New York institution for years, and a great client of Sinotique's since the beginning. He's a world class photographer, shooting the likes of Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Alec Wec, and even my neghborhood friend "Spawn", a kid from Chinatown who got all the way to a billboard on Times Square!

Here are photos by Dah Len, with props he purcahsed from Sinotique. I absolutely love working with Dah Len, he's a fast decision maker, and he's very professional, and he's gifted with a truly hysterical sense of humor, and love of what he does. You can't help but be uplifted when he visits.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Juan Montoya visits

Some time ago I met world reknown designer Juan Montoya when he was guest speaker at an antiques show I was exhibiting at in Washington, Connecticut. I was honored that he purchased some items from me for his own home. He purchased a huge water wheel from South India (which was featured in Architectural Digest in a spread of his summer home), and a low music table. Some time during the show he had told me he'd love to see my shop and to my surprise he came within a few weeks. My feature in Architectural Digest is thanks to Juan Montoya, a true gentleman, and a man with an ever present smile and sharp wit. Although his projects usually entail multimillion dollar budgets, he is always willing to help small shops and promote small business all over the world. I'll be eternally grateful and continually encouraged by his patronage.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Chinatown - Portraits, memories, and recipies

Ann Volkwein's long awaited book on Chinatown has finally been released, and we're thrilled. I am selling it at my store. Ann invited the press and all the folks who were featured in the book to a wonderful opening at Fu Lam restaurant on East Broadway a couple of weeks ago. It was a festive occassion with great food, drinks, and lively conversation. Although Ann was very busy with every manner of media asking her questions, the guests entertained themselves by catching up on business, issues, and life. In Chinatown most businesses are so focused within that having a chance to catch up with neighbors is a rarity sad to say. So Ann's opening was a welcome respite from the day's work environment , and we all celebrated a book that is sure to become the standard by which stories will be recorded in this part of the world.

Ann focused a large portion of her book on families and individuals from Chinatown. We're honored to have contributed to this wonderfully photographed and researched book.

Ann will be signing her books for sale at Sinotique at #19-A Mott St. NYC 10013, 212-587-2393, on Friday Dec. 14th, 07 so be at my store by 6:pm and get your autographed copy !!! Great Gift! Ann will share her experiences about what it was like putting together this tastey bit of New York culture.

For more information on Ann Volkwein please visit her profile in HarperCollins

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Travel Channel is going to feature me in their pilot for a new show

The travel Channel is going to feature Sinotique as a "hidden treasure" on their new show aptly named "The Deal Hunter" with host Ian Grant ( above left and pictured in the brown shirt doing a take for the T.V. show in front of my warehouse). Ian has been in the aniques business for 8 years and like myself makes trips to Asia frequently. The show focuses on how even a seasoned "Deal hunter" like himself can still find things here in America, you just have to know where to look. Working in front of the camera with Ian was great ! I've never had to do multiple "takes" so it took some getting used to.

I put the photo of Nate Burkes (of Oprah fame) up there cause i think they look alike. The pilot for Deal Hunter airs on Dec. 21st 07 on The Travel Channel , and again on January 21st. http://travel.discovery.com/

Here is a PREVIEW ! : http://tcpilotweek.com/trailerpage_dealhunter.html

Here is the schedule of airing times: http://travel.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=26.14992.123367.0.0

I just received an email from THE TRAVEL CHANNEL, they were kind enough to feature my business on their website ! Here is what they had to say:
Chinatown
Venture one block off any main street (E. Broadway, Canal Street) and onto any side street and you might forget you’re in New York City. Chinatown is a great place to find Chinese antiques, but you have to know where to look. Authentic antique pieces are extremely hard to find. Jan Lee, owner of Sinotique, has been salvaging relics from the Chinese countryside for over 10 years. Lee, like most antique collectors, can never fit all their pieces into the showroom. Ian Grant rule No. 16: The good stuff is always in the warehouse, and if you’re lucky the warehouse won’t be too far away.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Sinotique in Martha Stewart Living

For the Thanksgiving '06 issue I was asked by the folks at Martha Stewart Living to contribute to an article about Chinoiserie in America. Mimi Reed authored a really well done piece on the subject, and Sinotique's blackwood chairs were featured as well as a bonsai stand.

I have contributed to Martha Stewart living over the years and I have to say that the staff has been consistently wondeful to deal with. They're professional, courteous, and truly supporters of small businesses like mine.

Interestingly enough, both the set of 4 chairs and the bonsai stand were purchased recently for resale in CHINA !

Who'da thunk it?

eating while traveling

if only every meal I ate while I am traveling throughout Asia was this beautiful and this amazing. This was in Little India in Singapore from a sidewalk "hawker" stall. .

Although I must say, I have had some of the best food of my life while in Asia.

sitting and waiting

This is our dog, Kona, while she sits and waits in my workshop for her time to go to the nearby dog run under the Manhattan Bridge.

a window display at Sinotique

Not much to say here, I just liked this particular window......

drawings for clients

One of the first steps in creating a piece of furniture is to discuss exactly how a piece will be made, construction details, budget, hardware, colors, budget, scale, decor, style, budget.....
well, you get the point. A well done rendering can often bring to light construction details that the client may not have known were an issue. It's also a good tool for the client to understand the scale of a project through a rendering.
Here's a recent project.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The process from raw to finished piece

I thought it would be interesting to some to see the "raw" materials transformed into the finished piece.

The nondescript grey piece of wood is a slab of teak wood that was harvested over 40 years ago. I bought it in this condition while I was in Thailand years ago. I like to harvest wood responsibly so as to do the least amount of damage to the environment as possible. The grey color of the wood is because it was left outdoors for years. The owner's intent was to eventually carve it into something decorative for the tourist market. It's likely he left this slab alone because it had several deep defects throughout its surface.

The photo with all the shavings shows the tedious and laborious process of planing down the slab to make it smooth. There were literally hundreds of chainsaw marks cut deep into the surface. Since this was harvested over 40 years ago, it was likely that the rough cutting was performed with a handheld chainsaw, rather than using today's methods of putting the huge tree through a bandsaw that would be on site. I was told that these huge slabs were removed from the jungle with elephants.

The final photos show the true color of the wood, the depth of the grain, and the finished table that weighs about 350 lbs without the 8"x8" thick teak legs.

This piece was featured in Brooklyn Designs '06.

Two custom tables for Sheila

Sheila, my sister's friend of many years, and someone whom I have known as a family friend for most of my life, asked me to make two coffee tables for her new home in Greenwich, Ct. a few months ago. Again, I was flattered and excited to contribute to her new digs.

After meeting me at my workshop with her designer, Jim, we settled on two designs. One was a "waterfall" style table and the other a Japanese inspired piece. Both were veneered in antique bamboo, and stained a dark brown with some streaks of color peaking through.

Finally the Walentas table is complete

Hours and hours of planing, hand sanding, and polishing went into this table. I cut "butterfly" keys to keep the splits from advancing. Under the table there are very strong supports that mechanically keep the split together, the butterfly keys made of African ebony are both added support and decorative.

The table was installed, once again with the help of Jake, in the Walentas's farmhouse at Two Trees Farm in Bridgehampton.

The Walentas's were a pleasure to work with , and they were very happy with my table. Knowing full well that they could commission literally anyone in the city to make a table for them, I was very flattered and honored that my table would hold a place in their dining room at a farm that means so much to them. Shane and I were given a full tour of the farm by Mr. and Mrs. Walentas themselves, and their love of the place was evident all around us. What was really remarkable was the attention to historical detail that was maintained from the farmhouse to the barns and out buildings. The farm house was built in the mid 17th century!

Mr. Walentas introduced me to his four polo ponies to kick off the tour of the place. He's a competitor in polo.

The Bubinga table underway

The slabs I got from Africa were not exactly flat so they needed a lot of planing and sanding to get them to the point where we could actually affix legs to them.

Brooklyn Designs gets me a commission for a dining room table

David and Jane Walentas, known as the couple responsible for DUMBO's development from a warehouse district into one of the City's hippest places to live, came through the '07 Brooklyn Designs show and saw a table.. They liked it but wanted a few changes made to customize it to their country home in Bridgehampton. I agreed to make them one. They were a big part of the table's creation from the selection of the raw slab, to the color choices, to the design and layout of the leg details. They chose a slab of Bubinga for its dark rich colors and they especially liked the thickness of the slad and the "live edge" .

Brooklyn Designs

I participate in the Brooklyn Designs show every year. Last year was my second year at the show and it was thrilling to not only be a part of the energetic design scene in Brooklyn, but to speak to so many enthusiastic people gave me tremendous support. Brooklyn Designs attendance topped 6000 people last year. Brooklyn Designs includes only artisans whose work is designed and made in Brooklyn.

Here is the link to Brooklyn Designs : http://www.brooklyndesigns.net/index.html

Above are pictures of my booth at the '06 and '07 shows.

20 mirrors for the Belgravia

Part two of the Belgravia installation (at least my part of the project anyway) consisted of making 20 mirrors, one for each hallway landing, of the building. I sent Lou Marotta a sample mirror I had made along with a custom color sample in a very dark walnut stain to match the consoles that he commissioned by Ko, a friend of mine who is one of NYC's premier dealers in fine Chinese antique furniture. Ko has a factory in China that makes his contemporary furniture. http://www.kokochineseart.com/home. Here is Ko's console with my mirror above it.

Take a look at the sculpture installation I did for the Belgravia here: http://sinotique.blogspot.com/2007/11/recent-installation.html

You can see the other mirrors I have made in this style at:

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=67206