A Pair of Late 19thC Chinese Red Lacquer Chinoiserie Cabinet Doors c.1890

Origin: Chinese
Period: Qing Dynasty
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1890-1900
Widths: 14.5”
Heights: 44.5”
Depths: 2.25” (each)

The striking pair of late nineteenth century Chinese cabinet doors, richly lacquered in cinnabar red and decorated with time-softened black and gilt chinoiserie ornamentation including scattered blossom forms and faint architectural vignettes, each being framed within a simple moulded border and retaining their original dark metal lock plates and drop handles.

The condition is entirely consistent with age and use. There is surface wear throughout, expected abrasions, small losses and areas of rubbing to the lacquer and gilded decoration. The patina is dry and authentic, with no recent over-restoration apparent whilst the metal mounts show oxidation and mellowing. Structurally sound and immensely decorative, the red ground has developed a depth only age can give, somewhere between vermilion and oxblood with darker shadows collecting in the recesses and edges.

Such doors would originally have formed part of a domestic cabinet or wall cupboard, removed at some point in their history, as is so often the case, and now standing alone as sculptural objects. Detached architectural fragments like this carry a particular poetry: once functional, now purely aesthetic. The late Qing period saw continued export and internal production of lacquered domestic wares, and while this pair likely began life in a provincial setting rather than an imperial workshop, their charm lies precisely in that vernacular restraint.

Today they lend themselves to multiple uses: mounted as wall art, adapted as sliding panels, or simply leaned, as they are, against a textured wall where their worn lacquer glows in low light; a pair full of narrative and atmospheric depth.