height: 89.5 cm
width: 118 cm
Depth: 61 cm

This article of ‘Chinese Export’ furniture was most probably commissioned by a Danish sea Captain whilst visiting Canton. The design is based on 18th century Danish furniture combined with elements of Chinese furniture and decoration – the use of exotic hardwood being particularly appealing to Westerners. It is this combination of factors that makes export furniture and works of art so fascinating – since it represents the cultural interchange between East and West, and the marriage of the two styles. The resulting works can sometimes seem eccentric but are always interesting.

The bombé shaped chest comprises four drawers of graduated height on an integral raised base (in form and decoration reminiscent of a low Chinese kang table) supported on four ball and claw feet. The hardwood top supports a white marble stone slab with grey veining – this marble following the contours of the chest and slightly overhanging the top. The plain sides billow out and are mounted in the centre with substantial Paktong handles on shaped escutcheons. The drawer fronts are curved – their handles and escutcheons of similar type to those on the sides, but smaller in scale. Below the marble top, a horizontal row of petals is carved along the top front rail, while a vertical band of lotus flowers and leaves flanks the drawers; this latter design is repeated on the shaped apron around the bottom of the chest.

Comparative examples of Chinese Export Furniture
‘The Decorative Arts of The China Trade – Paintings, Furnishings & Exotic Curiosities’, by Carl Crossman, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1991 – chapter 9. A number of the items illlustrated display elements that are to be found on the export chest of drawers.