Antique Carved Pine Sideboard, Xinjiang, China, 1900

Details

Description

This antique carved sideboard in pine wood is a Uyghur cabinet from Xinjiang with four carved doors and a lobed-arch … Read more This antique carved sideboard in pine wood is a Uyghur cabinet from Xinjiang with four carved doors and a lobed-arch apron. It originates from Xinjiang, in north-western China, from the Qing dynasty, where pine was carved with the gouge and protected with a dark stain.

In the Uyghur house the storage cabinet stood against the wall of the receiving room and held textiles, kitchen goods and objects of value. The carving was not added ornament but the way of dignifying a humble wood, in a region where good timber was scarce.

The case is solid pine with mortise-and-tenon joinery. Four panel doors open in two pairs. The stiles continue into stirrup feet, and the lower apron is cut in lobed arches that echo the profile of the local architecture.

Each panel carries a central band of interlaced-circle rosettes, framed above and below by friezes of short flutes that read as dentils. The vertical stiles carry diamond lattices with petals, and the upper frieze repeats the motif at smaller scale. No polychromy: the relief reads through the contrast of shadow over the dark stain.

The stain has darkened with time and gained a deep sheen along the most handled edges. The top shows open joints and the wear proper to a cabinet in continuous use. The patina is warm.

Its sideboard height suits an entrance hall, a dining room or a corridor. The dense carving asks for a plain wall and raking light, which is when the relief gains depth.

Details

Dimensions: Length 183 cm – Width 42 cm – Height 85 cm
Style: Uyghur of Xinjiang
Materials and techniques: Pine wood; mortise-and-tenon joinery; relief carving; original dark stain.
Place of origin: China, Xinjiang
Period: Qing dynasty
Date of manufacture: Circa 1900
Condition: Good. Original stain darkened, open joints on the top and use sheen along the edges. Wear consistent with age and use. See less