Antique Chinese Painted Trunk

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Antique painted Chinese trunk in pine wood, provincial painted furniture with lotus composition originating from Inner Mongolia and dated circa … Read more Antique painted Chinese trunk in pine wood, provincial painted furniture with lotus composition originating from Inner Mongolia and dated circa 1900. Originates from Inner Mongolia, in northern China, from the late 19th century, where local pine was worked using mortise-and-tenon joinery without nails, with fronts painted in polychrome compositions.In the Mongol homes of northern China, painted trunks were central pieces of the wedding trousseau and the family treasury: they held textiles, clothing and personal objects, and fulfilled both a symbolic and a decorative function.Built in solid pine using traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery, without nails. Rectangular case with a hinged lid and forged iron front fittings allowing closure with a padlock. The front concentrates all the pictorial decoration.The front articulates a central polylobed painted panel with a composition of open lotuses (Buddhist emblem of purity) rising from a bowl, surrounded by butterflies and accompanied by a small calligraphic inscription. The lateral panels integrate stylised flower vases. The palette — black, orange, green, ochre — is characteristic of popular painting from northern China in the late Qing period.The patina retains the original pigments with a matte sheen and an irregular surface. The painting on the front shows soft losses and craquelure proper to natural ageing; the sides and lid show broad abrasions. The structure remains solid.It fits naturally in eclectic, wabi-sabi or contemporary rustic interiors. It works as a low coffee table, a storage piece at the foot of a bed or an autonomous decorative piece. The density of the pictorial composition turns it into a visual focus.DetailsDimensions: Length 88 cm – Width 55 cm – Height 58 cmStyle: Painted provincial furniture from Inner MongoliaMaterials and techniques: Solid pine, pigments on wood, forged iron hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery without nails, painted front with central lotus composition and calligraphic inscriptionPlace of origin: Inner Mongolia, ChinaPeriod: Late Qing dynasty (circa 1900)Date of manufacture: Circa 1900Condition / Notes: Sound structure. Original paint with soft losses and craquelure. Original fittings. Wear consistent with age and use. See less