Painted Mongolian Side Cabinet - 19th Century

This 19th century Mongolian side cabinet, crafted from poplar and decorated using traditional mineral pigments, exemplifies the rural painted furniture of northern China and Inner Mongolia. Workshops across these regions produced cabinetry enriched with symbolic imagery that reflected both practical household use and the visual culture shaped by Tibetan-Buddhist influence. The door panels display vase-and-flower motifs, an auspicious theme conveying harmony, prosperity, and cultivated virtue.

The cabinet preserves its original layered red ground, a characteristic feature of steppe and borderland furniture, where saturated colour signified vitality and protection. The softly worn surfaces reveal gradual abrasion from generations of use, resulting in an authentic, time-developed patina typical of surviving provincial examples.

Above the doors, the two drawers contain honeycomb-patterned reserves with botanical ornament, a motif consistent with 19th-century Mongolian and Inner Mongolian painted cabinetry. Behind the double doors lies a spacious interior fitted with a full-width shelf, offering practical and versatile storage. The brass hardware is later replaced, though selected in a manner sympathetic to the cabinet’s original decorative vocabulary.

• Origin: Mongolia
• Date: 19th Century
• Materials: Poplar with natural pigments; later brass hardware
• Features: Two upper drawers; double painted doors; auspicious vase-and-flower imagery; full-width interior shelf
• Condition: Worn layered paintwork consistent with age; attractive patina; sympathetic later hardware
• Dimensions: W69 × D36 × H83 cm

A representative and well-preserved example of Mongolian painted furniture, combining practical domestic design with enduring symbolic artistry.