Antique Chinese Wedding Cabinets

Highly decorative, these Chinese wedding cabinets were mostly made in red, maroon or black lacquer or camphor wood. Often, they were also gilded or painted and are highly decorative. Chinese wedding cabinets were usually made in pairs for the husband and wife and presented at their wedding, hence the name. They are excellent wardrobes or storage cabinets and are also known as Chinese wedding chests.

Dating from 18^th, 19^th & early 20^th century, our genuine antiques are restored by our artisan team in the UK and are always dated.

Chinese wedding cabinets, also known as Chinese marriage cabinets were made in pairs. Wedding cabinets in China were traditionally given as a wedding gift by their parents as the main storage for a couple moving into their new home. The majority of original Chinese wedding cabinets have a single shelf and 2 drawers. 

Chinese wedding cabinets are truly beautify with large brass plates and either gilding or painting on the front. The sides and back of the cabinet are almost always painted black and the fronts were either wood, or red lacquer or black lacquer. Earlier Ming period wedding cabinets were either plain wood, or inlaid with precious minerals. 

Red lacquer & black lacquer wedding cabinets are usually painted with either scenes or flowers & other objects. Scenes are particularly interesting and often show women with children playing and give a true insight into the reality of the day to day lives of the owners.

The central brass plates bring your eyes to the center of the wedding cabinet and original lock plates add real value to these pieces.

Today, Chinese wedding cabinets are used as the ultimate statement decorators piece, used for storage or as a TV cabinet.