Medium Chinese trunk in solid pine, with very characterizing original paint and patina, originally from China and dated toward 1900. A functional medium-scale storage piece, sitting between a robust domestic transport trunk and a decorative chest of assured presence, representative of Chinese provincial furniture of stable medial scale from the nineteenth-twentieth century transition.
In bedrooms and storage spaces of Chinese homes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, medium trunks with original paint-patina served practical functions of assured presence: they stored clothing, textiles and belongings with important visual presence, functioned as comfortable and stable seating benches, created points of visual interest through their aged patinas. The medial height — 55 cm — allowed versatile use as seating. The width of 74 cm provided robust capacity. The depth of 51 cm contributes very assured stability. Examples with original characterizing paint-patina are highly sought.
It is constructed in solid pine with wide boards of traditional joinery without nails. The hinged front lid opens on original forged-iron hinges, retaining the pin-lock. The simple feet are proportioned. The sides retain original handles or grips. The interior structure is visible and very honest.
The paint and patina documents the trajectory: the pine displays original paint palette — frequently in dark or reddish tones — that has aged very nobly creating a surface of maximum authenticity. The original colours, where they subsist, have faded into a very harmonious palette. Areas where wear reveals pine show its natural tones. The combined effect is of complete ageing very characterizing. The structure is completely solid.
Through its characterizing paint, medial height and stable scale, it sits naturally in interiors celebrating history — contemporary rustic, eclectic with regional sensibility, thematic galleries — where it functions as a protagonist decorative trunk, seating bench with presence, piece that brings visual narrative, or element that generates interesting compositions. Its original paint-patina is its greatest value.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 74 cm – Width 51 cm – Height 55 cm
- Style: Chinese utilitarian furniture, medium trunk original paint-patina
- Materials and techniques: Solid pine; hinged front lid with forged-iron hinges; original pin-lock; highly aged paint; metal-band reinforcements; original handles
- Place of origin: China
- Period: Late nineteenth – early twentieth century
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1900
- Condition / Notes: Very good. Original deeply aged paint-patina without invasive restorations, completely solid structure, medial assured presence, solid functional hardware
This piece is part of the collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
