This antique painted trunk in pine wood features a painted composition on the front with peonies, butterflies and birds over an ochre yellow ground, and vermilion red sides. It originates from northwestern China, from the late Qing dynasty, where pine was worked using mortise-and-tenon joinery.
In traditional Chinese furniture, painted trunks were trousseau pieces — part of the bridal dowry — and stored textiles, festival clothes and personal items inside. The yellow palette with auspicious motifs was common in northwestern China and along the frontier with Inner Mongolia. The top opens on upper hinges and gives vertical access to the interior.
The body is built in solid pine. The structure is a closed rectangular volume with a hinged top, assembled by mortise-and-tenon over an internal frame. The front hinge is hand-forged iron. The sides are painted in a uniform vermilion red, and the front carries a central panel in ochre yellow with the pictorial decoration framed by a dark blue-green border.
The painted front panel shows a complex composition: pink and red peonies (mudan 牡丹) arranged on stems, accompanied by butterflies (die 蝶) and small birds. The peony symbolises wealth and honour; the butterfly, longevity (through homophony with 耋, octogenarian) and, alongside flowers, marital joy; the birds add the motif of domestic harmony. The palette combines ochre yellow ground, pinks, reds, greens and blues in the motifs, with black strokes for outlining.
The patina preserves the original pigments with soft softening. On the edges and corners the vermilion red has worn away and lets the pine show through. The yellow of the central panel keeps its saturation. The characters and motifs remain legible. The whole has been kept in continuous use as a ritual and decorative piece.
Given its contained size — 79 × 55 × 60 cm — this trunk works as a bedside table, an auxiliary side table, a low bench at the foot of a bed or a central decorative piece in an entrance. It brings a strong chromatic accent into light or sober interiors. It fits wabi-sabi, contemporary rustic, japandi and Asian-inspired projects.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 79 cm – Width 55 cm – Height 60 cm
- Style: Qing Dynasty
- Materials and techniques: Solid pine; hand-forged iron hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery; painting over ochre yellow ground with floral motifs, butterflies and birds; vermilion red sides.
- Place of origin: China
- Period: Late Qing dynasty / Early Republic
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1930
- Condition: Good. Original paintwork preserved with soft wear on the edges. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
