This antique painted sideboard in pine wood features two doors with painted floral compositions over a cream ground and two aligned lower drawers. It originates from northern China, from the late Qing dynasty, where pine was worked using traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery.
Chinese painted furniture with a light palette — cream and off-white grounds — was characteristic of the northwestern corridor during the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. The high-key palette allowed floral bouquets to be composed in pink and green inks with a light, almost watercolour-like handling. Two-door sideboards with lower drawers combined functional storage and decorative presence in the main room.
The body is built in solid pine. The front combines two identical doors with a perimeter frame and a painted central panel, over two aligned lower drawers. The hardware is ring-shaped hand-forged iron. The structure has solid sides finishing on straight legs. The construction is traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon, without metal fasteners.
The painted decoration on the panels shows floral compositions in pinks and greens over a cream ground, arranged in loose bouquets with light handling and background foliage. The flowers appear unframed, and the whole evokes a more intimate decorative register than that of classical lacquered furniture. The palette combines cream white, pinks, greens and subtle black strokes.
The patina shows a soft aging. The cream paint has worn in contact areas revealing the pine in warm tones. The floral pigments remain softened but the compositions remain legible. The top surface shows the natural figure of pine with minor use marks and small longitudinal cracks.
With a 159 cm length and a contained 83 cm height, this sideboard works well in living rooms, dining rooms and hallways. As low cabinetry for television, its height allows hanging the screen above. It suits wabi-sabi, japandi, contemporary rustic and Asian-inspired interiors.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 159 cm – Width 46 cm – Height 83 cm
- Style: Qing Dynasty
- Materials and techniques: Solid pine; hand-forged iron hardware; traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon joinery; painting over cream ground with floral compositions in pinks and greens.
- Place of origin: China
- Period: Late Qing dynasty / Early Republic
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1930
- Condition: Good. Cream paintwork with softened floral motifs and gentle preserved patina. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
