Antique painted sideboard in pine wood, Chinese provincial furniture with floral decoration originating from Gansu and dated circa 1930. Originates from Gansu, in western China, from the early 20th century, where local pine was worked using mortise-and-tenon joinery without nails and lacquered in black and vermilion, with floral decoration painted on top.
In the living rooms and dining rooms of houses in Gansu in the early 20th century, sideboards were central pieces of the domestic trousseau: they held tableware, textiles and everyday objects, and articulated the main space visually. When they carried painted decoration, the front cartouche acted as a permanent domestic painting. Their typology belongs to the provincial tradition of western China, where furniture had a recognisable regional character.
Built in Gansu solid pine using traditional carpentry without nails. The front is organised in a double door lacquered in vermilion with a black frame, ring metal handle and a lower plinth with a decorative frieze. The legs are square in section. The carpentry preserves the imprint of provincial western furniture.
The central rectangular cartouche concentrates the painted decoration: on a golden ground, a mixed floral spray unfolds in which orange-red peony petals (mudan 牡丹), the “queen of flowers” in China and the classical emblem of prosperity and honour, stand out together with curved-petal lilies — a traditional symbol of fertility and descendants — and small chrysanthemums associated with longevity. To the left and right of the spray a vertical calligraphic inscription in black ink is preserved, including a Chinese-character date, a recurrent practice of painted furniture from Gansu and the Inner Mongolian frontier. The lower plinth is closed by a continuous frieze of small polychrome flowers.
The patina records the passage of time: the black lacquer of the frame and top shows fine craquelure and areas where the pine surfaces, while the vermilion front retains an even density. The painting of the cartouche shows soft losses and craquelure proper to an original finish nearly a century old, without intrusive restoration. The structure remains solid.
It fits naturally in contemporary rustic interiors, entrances or thematic living rooms. It works as a service sideboard, an auxiliary piece beneath a hung composition or a character piece in a dining room. The floral cartouche and the calligraphic inscription are its greatest value.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 98 cm – Width 40 cm – Height 84 cm
- Style: Painted Chinese provincial furniture
- Materials and techniques: Gansu solid pine, black and vermilion lacquer, polychrome paint on golden ground, wrought iron hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery without nails, double front door, painted cartouche with calligraphic inscription
- Place of origin: Gansu, China
- Period: Late Qing dynasty / Early Republic of China (circa 1930)
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1930
- Condition / Notes: Sound structure. Original patina and paint. Marks and traces of use. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
