This antique low sideboard in solid elm, with two flush doors and a shaped apron, is a storage piece from northern China around 1950.
The two-door low sideboard was a staple piece in rural Shanxi living rooms during the first half of the twentieth century: a generous case for storing household utensils, bedding or tableware, raised on a shaped apron a few centimetres above the earth floor.
The frame is built with blind mortise-and-tenon joinery typical of traditional Chinese carpentry. The doors, flat and broad-panelled, swing on dowel pivots and close with original wrought-iron rings. The top is made from three elm boards butt-joined together.
The patina shows the characteristic straw-blond tone of elm stripped by time, with deep grain and darker zones where the wood absorbed everyday wear. Small marks and knots reinforce the reading of an honest piece, without invasive restoration.
It works as a living-room sideboard, a low TV cabinet in larger rooms or a long console under a window. Its quiet volume and shaped apron sit naturally in wabi-sabi, japandi or rustic-contemporary interiors.
Details
- Materials and techniques: Solid elm wood; mortise-and-tenon joinery; flush doors with wrought-iron ring pulls
- Place of origin: China
- Period: Mid-twentieth century
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1950
- Dimensions: Length 145 cm – Depth 40 cm – Height 85 cm
- Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
