Not currently on display at the V&A

Coffer

20th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This coffer, or storage cupboard, is considered a 20th-century product. Coffers with two drawers and two doors below the drawers are unknown before this date. The brass fittings are new but the timber shows signs of age. The doors also have wooden pins which are of one piece with the frame of the door panel. This type of construction method is no longer used today. The dismemberment and reconstruction of pieces of furniture has been going on for centuries in China and this coffer is just one of many examples.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Huali wood, brass fittings
Brief description
Woo, China, furniture
Physical description
Coffer, or storage cupboard, with two drawers and two doors. The brass fittings are later replacements and the whole piece reconstructed from an older piece of furniture.
Dimensions
  • Depth: 49.7cm
  • Height: 78.5cm
  • Width: 97.5cm
Object history
********
Production
made using old material
Summary
This coffer, or storage cupboard, is considered a 20th-century product. Coffers with two drawers and two doors below the drawers are unknown before this date. The brass fittings are new but the timber shows signs of age. The doors also have wooden pins which are of one piece with the frame of the door panel. This type of construction method is no longer used today. The dismemberment and reconstruction of pieces of furniture has been going on for centuries in China and this coffer is just one of many examples.
Bibliographic reference
Craig Clunas 'Chinese Furniture' (V&A Far Eastern Series, 1988) p.**. For other half of the pair see 'The minor arts of China' Spink & Son Ltd (London, 198*), p.**, 'Chinese Decorative Arts' Sotheby's, (London, 31.10.1986), lot 127, there dated Jiaqing.
Collection
Accession number
FE.16-1980

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Record createdFebruary 12, 2000
Record URL
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