Painted Qinghai Sideboard - 19th Century

This finely painted sideboard originates from Qinghai Province in Northern China and dates to the 19th century, during the Qing dynasty. Pieces of this type were produced for practical domestic use yet executed with a visual restraint and balance characteristic of northern painted furniture. The long, low form reflects its original function as a grain or bedding cupboard, while the surviving painted decoration offers a rare insight into everyday symbolism and literati ideals within rural interiors.

The façade is formed of three painted panels framed by scrolling blue cartouches and lotus motifs, executed entirely in traditional mineral pigments. The two outer panels depict still-life arrangements of flowering vases, baskets of fruit, and domestic objects, imagery associated with abundance, harmony, and household stability. The central scene shows two scholars seated outdoors playing Go (围棋, Weiqi), a game long associated with intellect, patience, and moral cultivation. Such scenes were not intended as portraiture but as visual references to scholarly virtue and contemplative leisure.

One figure within the central panel has had his facial features deliberately scratched out. This is a purposeful act rather than accidental damage and is occasionally encountered on Qing-period painted furniture. The defacement is widely understood as a form of later iconoclasm, potentially reflecting changing social, religious, or political attitudes towards representational imagery. It may also relate to the cabinet’s later reuse or adaptation within the household, where symbolic imagery was consciously altered to neutralise its original meaning. The rest of the painted surface remains intact, reinforcing the view that this intervention was intentional and selective.

Originally constructed as a top-opening storage chest, the piece has been sympathetically converted into a sideboard, with the former fixed panels adapted into opening doors. The internal shelves are modern additions, allowing for practical contemporary use while preserving the integrity of the original painted surfaces. Today, the cabinet works comfortably as a sideboard or media unit, its aged patina and narrative decoration lending quiet authority and depth to modern interiors.

• Origin: Qinghai Province, Northern China
• Date: 19th century, Qing dynasty
• Materials: Pine (松木) and poplar (杨木), painted with traditional mineral pigments
• Original Function: Grain or bedding and clothing storage
• Later Adaptations: Converted from top-opening chest; doors adapted from fixed panels; internal shelves are modern
• Decoration: Hand-painted narrative and still-life panels with symbolic motifs
• Condition: Structurally sound with surface wear, paint loss, and patina consistent with age and use. Restored in our UK workshops.

A beautiful and characterful Qinghai cabinet combining literati symbolism, mineral-pigment painting, and visible layers of domestic history.