Chest with table (detail)

home collections asian art Chest with table (detail)
INV AO.328
Arca com suporte (pormenor)

PLACE/DATE
China, Macao (?), Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), 2nd half of the 17th century

MATERIALS
Lacquered wood, mother of pearl inlays and metal fittings

DIMENSIONS
87 x 122 x 70,5 cm

INV
AO.328

This lacquered chest, in a parallelepiped format, reproduces the model of the classic chest of drawers, with the characteristic central large drawer flanked by two drawers.

It has a removable flat top, front and side panels in shellac filled with mother-of-pearl inlays, supported by four dragon-shaped legs. Despite its ornamental programme of naturalistic content, dominated by landscapes with flowering branches, birds and pagodas and landscaped backgrounds with houses in a style characteristic of Japanese painting, other aspects reveal that it is a piece of Chinese origin.

Curiously, not all the surface area that makes up the chest dates from the period when it was conceived. There are components dating from the 17th century and others from a later period, which were probably introduced so that the chest could be adapted to the supporting table that was, in the meantime, attached to it.