This antique painted trunk in pine wood features a painted composition with three female figures on the front panel and a continuous floral border around all edges, over a dark ground. The top opens on upper hinges. It originates from northern China, from the late Qing dynasty, where pine was worked using traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery.
In traditional Chinese furniture, painted trunks with hinged lids formed part of the household trousseau and stored textiles, festival clothes and personal items inside. Figurative compositions with scenes of court or mythological life were frequent on the more carefully executed pieces, associated with wishes of marital harmony, longevity and domestic prosperity.
The body is built in solid pine. The structure is a closed rectangular volume with a hinged lid, mounted by mortise-and-tenon joinery over an internal frame. The front hinge and the latch are hand-forged iron. The interior keeps the bare pine, while the exterior is fully painted.
The painted front panel shows a composition of three female figures in traditional dress, arranged over a landscape ground with vegetation, along with a Chinese character. This scene is framed by a continuous floral border with vegetal motifs in reds, golds and greens over a dark ground. Compositions with groups of figures were associated in Qing iconography with family harmony and traditional feminine virtues.
The patina keeps the original pigments with good saturation on the figures and the floral border. The dark ground of the lid shows stable aging. On corners and edges the paint has worn and reveals the pine. Small marks and traces of paint protector applied in an old restoration can be seen. The whole has been kept in continuous use.
With its contained size — 89 × 55 × 58 cm — this trunk works as a bedside table, an auxiliary 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 interiors. It suits wabi-sabi, contemporary rustic, japandi and Asian-inspired or cabinet-of-curiosities projects.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 89 cm – Width 55 cm – Height 58 cm
- Style: Qing Dynasty
- Materials and techniques: Solid pine; hand-forged iron hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery; painting over dark ground with human figures, floral border and Chinese calligraphy.
- Place of origin: China
- Period: Late Qing dynasty
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1900
- Condition: Good. Original paintwork preserved with figures and floral border; small use marks and traces of protector. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
