Qing Dynasty Furniture: In the early Qing Dynasty, furniture inherited characteristics of the Ming Dynasty, from the reign of Emperor Yongzheng to Emperor Jiaqing. After political power as stabilized and the economy improved, people began to pay more attention to more material things in there lives, and demanded decorative and luxurious furnishings, gaudiness and sumptuousness were a basic features of Qing furniture which was usually heavy and sizable, featuring exquisitely carved patterns. Some pieces were carved from head to foot and had inlays of stone, mother-of-pearl, porcelain, metal, and enamel. Qing furniture had curved decorations and exaggerated shapes that demanded attention. Chinese traditional furniture has a strong aesthetic appeal due to its apparently simple lines and the fact that it makes use of "natural materials" such as the finest hardwoods-no fusty stuffed couches here. Ready comparisons can be made to Danish furniture, with its sparse lines. With Chinese furniture, you see what you get. Nothing is hidden, and the wood is polished, stained or lacquered to evoke its natural earthiness and grainy patterns. Chinese furniture reached a pinnacle of fine design and workmanship from the sixteenth centuries, the later part of the Ming period. Fine furniture is characterized by restrained and elegant designs and complex joinery that held the furniture together without glue or nails.