Chinese Lacquer and Gilt Trunk on Stand. Figural decoration with inlays. 

Size: 26 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 11 in. 

#7102 . 

Early Chinese furniture was mostly in plain, polished wood, but from at least the Song Dynasty the most luxurious pieces often used lacquer to cover the whole or parts of the visible areas. All the various sub-techniques of Chinese lacquerware can be found on furniture, and from the Ming Dynasty onward it became an increasingly affordable process, and thus more widely used. Carved lacquer furniture was, at first, only affordable by the imperial family or the extremely rich, but by the 19th Century it was mostly made in smaller pieces or as decorated areas on larger ones, which also made it easier to keep in the homes of the less wealthy. It was especially popular on screens, which were common in all parts of China. Lacquer inlaid with mother of pearl was a technique used especially on furniture after the Later Jin Dynasty. Chinese furniture is usually light but sturdy, anticipating Europe by several centuries in this respect. Practical fittings in metal such as hinges, lock plates, drawer handles and protective plates at edges or feet are used and often given considerable emphasis, but compared to classic European fine furniture purely decorative metal mounts were rare. From the Qing Dynasty onward furniture made for export, mostly to Europe, became a distinct style, generally made in individualized shapes to suit the destination markets and highly decorated in lacquer and other techniques.