Small Chest with Inner Drawers (1700s): Art, History and Details

Small Chest with Inner Drawers (1700s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This small chest fitted with drawers and a tray was used to store seals, cosmetic utensils, or other necessities of daily life. Chests were portable and placed on tables or shelves and were secured with a metal pin inserted through the metal loops on the front panels. The rare tropical hardwood (huanghuali) would have been only affordable to individuals of a higher social status.

Object facts

• Title: Small Chest with Inner Drawers
• Date: 1700s
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
• Type: Furniture and woodwork
• Technique: Rosewood (huanghuali) and metal
• Dimensions: Overall: 40.7 x 41.3 x 35.6 cm (16 x 16 1/4 x 14 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1982.117

A detail from the museum

The top lifts up to gain access to the storage area below and allows the front doors to open, revealing 5 interior drawers.

Collection credit

Gift of Miss Mildred F. Walker

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 70, no. 1, 1983, pp. 3–55.
• Spee, Clarissa von. “Have a Seat! From Floor Culture to Furniture of Ming and Qing Dynasty China.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 14–15.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.