Antique Chinese sideboard in solid elm, originally from Shanxi and dated toward 1920. A large-scale functional storage and display piece, sitting between a Chinese sideboard and a architectural transitional furniture, representative of northern Chinese furniture of large presence from the early twentieth century.
In principal rooms and representation spaces of Shanxi homes in the early twentieth century, large sideboards served functions of maximum importance: they created display surfaces for prized collections, provided monumental storage beneath gallery of framed works, offered elegant visual presence without occupying excessive depth. The proportioned height — 76 cm — allowed absolute character. The extraordinary width — 203 cm — created a noble horizontal silhouette. The very compact depth — 40 cm — was ideal for long galleries. Sideboards from Shanxi of this scale are not very common.
It is constructed in solid local elm with a front probably organized in multiple panels or doors, and a very generous top board. The sides maintain clear and proportional lines. The legs, of square section, are appropriately scaled to the monumental whole. Carpentry employs traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery without nails. The construction is completely honest and the structure is visibly very solid.
The patina preserves the character of aged Shanxi elm: very uniform and warm settled tone, entirely legible grain showing characteristic northern texture, soft matte sheen polished by decades. The top board shows very discrete natural marks. The structure is absolutely solid. The proportions are its visual identity.
Through its proportions and architectural balance, it sits naturally in interiors celebrating scale — large galleries, gallery rooms, expansive transitional spaces — where it functions as a sideboard, large furniture beneath collections, structural element that defines space, or piece that creates an architectural visual foundation. Its honest structure is its greatest value.
Details
- Dimensions: 203 × 40 × 76 cm
- Style: Chinese provincial furniture
- Materials and techniques: Solid elm; traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery
- Place of origin: Shanxi, China
- Period: First third of the twentieth century
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1920
- Condition / Notes: Good. Original uniform very warm patina, completely solid structure.
This piece is part of the collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
