Antique painted trunk in pine wood – China, circa 1900
€695Bid from €625.50
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Product description
This antique painted trunk in pine wood features a closed rectangular structure with hinged lid, hand-forged iron hinges and latch and a uniform dark lacquer finish almost monochrome, without visible figurative decoration. It originates from northern China, from the late Qing dynasty, where pine was worked using mortise-and-tenon joinery and finished with polychrome paint over a natural lacquer ground.
In traditional Chinese furniture, painted trunks were trousseau pieces — part of the bridal dowry — and stored textiles, festival clothes, documents and personal items inside. The painted decoration on the front, sides and lid was a statement of domestic prosperity and a vehicle for family auspicious symbolism.
The body is built in solid pine. The structure is a closed rectangular volume with a hinged lid mounted on hand-forged iron hinges, with a central iron latch. The joinery is mortise-and-tenon over an internal frame and the sides finish in a small lower moulding. The interior keeps the bare pine, while the exterior is fully painted.
The surface was finished in uniform dark lacquer applied in thin layers over the pine, without added figurative decoration. Time has settled the lacquer into a warm patina with soft chromatic variations and use areas where the wood lightly comes through. The sobriety of this variant — without polychrome paint — belongs to the more austere register of Chinese domestic trunks, where material and patina carry the entire visual expression.
With its contained size — around 85-90 cm in length — this trunk works as a bedside table, an auxiliary table, a low bench at the foot of a bed or a central decorative piece in an entrance. It suits wabi-sabi, contemporary rustic, japandi and Asian-inspired interiors, where it brings a historical and narrative accent.
Details
Ref.: AM29016-24
Dimensions: Length 88 cm – Width 57 cm – Height 61 cm
Style: Qing Dynasty
Materials and techniques: Solid pine; hand-forged iron hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery; painting over natural lacquer ground.
Place of origin: China
Period: Late Qing dynasty
Date of manufacture: Circa 1900
Condition: Good. Original paintwork and patina preserved with honest wear. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
Additional details:
- Brand: AMARU
- Style: Qing Dynasty
- Material: Pine
- Material: Lacquer
- Colour: dark
- Period: Late Qing dynasty