Chinese Wardrobe with 2 Doors & Top Trunk

Black lacquer cabinet covered in tiny painted villages and gold-line landscapes.

This wardrobe with 2 doors & top trunk is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is lacquered & painted elm wood. Many Chinese antiques are now returning to China through auction houses and foreign dealers, as Chinese buyers actively purchase older pieces back, which the article describes as reclaiming their heritage. Two-part cabinet with compact upper doors and a larger lower pair. Both are decorated in gilt and painted scenes of buildings, hills and trees. Red-trimmed drawers sit between, and the apron and feet show red lacquer. It is 44 inches long, 20 deep and 87 high.

A whole countryside, tucked in a wardrobe.