Chinese Painted Folk Trunk, C. 1900

Details

Description

Trunks and storage chests were the most ubiquitous form of household storage throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties. Used to … Read more Trunks and storage chests were the most ubiquitous form of household storage throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties. Used to store clothes, linens, kitchen utensils, and other miscellaneous items, trunks were found in every room in the home and were often stacked on top of one another.

This festive trunk dates to the early 20th century and has been embellished with black lacquer and hand-painted decoration in a traditional folk style. The front is painted with a female rider and her horse in a plains landscape, armed with her sword and dressed in traditional attire. Drawn in a modern style, the scene may have been repainted in the 1960s or 70s to adapt to changing tastes. The landscape is surrounded by painted panels of various flowers, and the interior has been recently repainted to a bright turquoise. See less