Low Antique Carved Pine Sideboard with Drawers, Xinjiang, China, 1900

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This antique carved low cabinet with drawers in pine is a Uyghur cabinet from Xinjiang with five drawers and polychrome … Read more This antique carved low cabinet with drawers in pine is a Uyghur cabinet from Xinjiang with five drawers and polychrome carving. It originates from Xinjiang, in north-western China, from the Qing dynasty, where carving in pine was coloured with ground pigments.The traditional Uyghur house organises life around the supa, the low platform where people eat and rest. The furniture adapts to that height: long, low pieces, meant to be reached from floor level and to order the perimeter of the room.The case is solid pine with mortise-and-tenon joinery. Five drawers align in a single front beneath the top, which is left bare. The stiles continue into stirrup feet and the back is closed with vertical boards.The carving covers drawer fronts, frieze and plinth. The drawers carry interlaced-circle rosettes and lanceolate petals; the upper frieze a diamond lattice with flowers; the plinth a continuous band of rosettes. Colour was applied with the tip of the brush over the relief in pink, green, yellow, orange and violet blue, leaving the wood exposed in the grounds.The polychromy has lost saturation and turned pastel, closer to pale rose and ash green than to the original tone. The top is bare, with knots and open grain. The contrast between the coloured front and the clean wood is the principal reading of the piece.At 245 cm long and only 54 high, it serves as a living-room low cabinet, a television base or a continuous bench beneath a window. Its pastel colour suits pale, contemporary interiors.

Dimensions: Length 245 cm – Width 43 cm – Height 54 cm. Style: Uyghur of Xinjiang. Materials and techniques: Pine wood; iron hardware; mortise-and-tenon joinery; relief carving and pigment polychromy. Place of origin: China, Xinjiang. Period: Qing dynasty. Date of manufacture: Circa 1900. Condition: Good. Original polychromy faded to pastel tones, with wood exposed in the grounds and on the top. Wear consistent with age and use. See less