Chinese Wardrobe with 2 Lattice Doors

Latticed doors in a grid so tidy it could balance a ledger.

This wardrobe with 2 lattice doors is from Henan Province, China, and dates to the late 18th or early 19th century. It is lacquered elm wood. As original period furniture became harder to find, restoration artists began salvaging fragments from incomplete pieces to make complete ones, and eventually full reproductions began to surface. Tall cabinet with two doors filled by a square grid of dark wooden lattice. Pale metal hinges and a central lock plate catch the light against the black, worn surface. The body rests on straight, slightly splayed legs. It is 42 inches long, 20.5 deep and 76 high.

Mostly holes, and somehow still looks sturdy.