Chinese Red Lacquer Bedside Cabinet - 19thC

Original Chinese lacquer cabinets like these are now very difficult to find. Lacquer cabinets were often given as wedding gifts - usually in pairs. Original pieces were not usually decorated on the sides. This red lacquer side cabinet has seen heavy use and much of the original gilding on the front has worn away leaving the more hardwearing black lacquer below. The top would originally have been black lacquered.

The best quality lacquer cabinets like this were made from elm. The lacquer is a resin made from the sap of the rhus verniciflua tree. Lacquer has a long history in Chinese furniture and has been used for over 2000 years. Red is the most commonly used colour, black is also used, but is much less common. The lacquer is usually decorated with coloured lacquer designs or gold leaf. Other colours such as green, blue, yellow and pink were not used and are only found in modern reproductions.

From China
59 x 36.5 x 78.5 (wxdxh cms)

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