This antique painted trunk in pine wood features a front composed in panels framed by a gilded huiwen border, a central panel with a floral vase and motifs of flowers and butterflies on the side panels. It originates from northern China, from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, where pine was worked using dovetail joinery and decorated with hand-applied paint over a coloured ground.
In traditional Chinese furniture, medium-sized painted trunks belonged to the domestic trousseau and, in many cases, to the bridal dowry. They were reserved for textiles, festival clothes and personal items, and were carried between the family home and the husband’s house as part of the marriage gift. Vermilion red was the classical colour for trousseau pieces — a colour of good auspice, linked to marriage, the domestic hearth and prosperity.
The body is built in solid pine, joined by visible dovetail corners. The top opens on two rear hand-forged iron hinges. A central pin lock with a brass plate secures the closure. The sides carry original recessed handles for transport. The structure preserves its original integrity.
The decoration covers the entire front. Five main panels are framed by a double gilded line and organised around a larger central panel showing a cylindrical vase (huaping 花瓶) from which large chrysanthemums (juhua 菊花) spring in pink, yellow and green, accompanied by a golden dragonfly (qingting 蜻蜓) in flight. The vase is a homophone for peace (ping 瓶 = ping 平), so the composition reads as a wish for peace, longevity and wealth for the household. The four corner panels show compositions of peonies (mudan 牡丹), lotus (lian 蓮) and butterflies. The upper and lower registers carry the huiwen (回紋) border, also called meander or Chinese key, a symbol of unbroken continuity and eternity. The palette combines vermilion red ground, gold, green and pink with black outlines.
The paintwork presents the fine crazing characteristic of natural aging over more than a century. In contact areas — lower corners, top perimeter, band around the lock — the vermilion has worn away and reveals the bare pine in warm tones. The pigments of the motifs keep their saturation and remain fully legible. The patina is honest, with no invasive restoration.
With its contained proportions — 77 × 52 × 51 cm — this trunk works as a side table, low coffee table, bench at the foot of a bed or central decorative piece in an entrance. The intensity of the red makes it a strong chromatic accent in light or sober interiors. It fits wabi-sabi, contemporary rustic, japandi and Asian-inspired projects.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 77 cm – Width 52 cm – Height 51 cm
- Style: Late Qing Dynasty / Early Republic
- Materials and techniques: Solid pine; hand-forged iron hardware and brass plate; central pin lock; dovetail joinery; original paintwork over vermilion red ground with floral polychromy and gilding.
- Place of origin: Northern China
- Period: Late 19th century – early 20th century
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1900
- Condition: Very good. Original patina and paintwork very well aged, with no invasive restoration. Structure intact. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
