A typical scholar's studio in ancient Chinese furniture collector Marcus Flacks' book Custodians of the Scholar's Way, decorated with his collection of about 200 pieces of wooden objects used by ancient Chinese scholars such as weiqi (the game of Go) boxes and inkpad boxes.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"I felt it was of paramount importance to create a historical and aesthetic context for these pieces to live in, to help readers to reconnect with the history that helped form the world of the literatus," he says.

Screens on tables used to block out the wind as scholars practiced calligraphy or painted a variety of objects using ink brushes. From delicate censers, food trays, and boxes of weiqi - the game of Go that was popular among scholars - to pen boxes with engraved paintings and cases, all of these wooden objects were laid out in the studios designed by Flacks and depicted by Chinese painter Liu Xin.

Hai Yan, a major collector of ancient Chinese furniture, said at a talk with Flacks at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in May, that, compared to furniture, scholars' objects better represented the mindset of the Chinese elite and the individual aesthetics of ancient times. They connect modern Chinese society with a traditional culture which lasted for thousands of years.

Like many other collectors, Hai spent years building up his collection of large pieces of Chinese furniture, but tended to overlook the small objects used by scholars. However, as prices of smaller pieces have begun to rise in recent years, they have begun to attract more attention in market.