Chinese Wood Trunk with Handles

A bold red lidded chest, lock plate up front, with a tiny painted scene in a wreath.

This trunk with handles is from China, and dates to the 19th century. It is lacquered elm wood. Tibetans were traditionally semi-nomadic and owned few personal furnishings, so most Tibetan furniture stood in monasteries, and some of it was carted over the Himalayas to India as monasteries were destroyed. Squared red chest with a flat lid and a black metal hasp at the center. Black painted key-fret corners flank a round wreath-like medallion enclosing two seated figures. Small scrolled knots hang below, and the paint is worn at the edges. It is 25 inches long, 16 deep and 20 high.

Loud paint, small figures, and a lock that means business.