Chinese Lacquer Furniture

At this year’s final international auction in the Bredgade Saleroom, we can present a Chinese export bureau cabinet and a Northern European cabinet inspired by the Chinoiserie style.

25 November 2015

Chinese export brass mounted black and gilt lacquer bureau cabinet. Approximately 1740. Provenance: The Diana Dollar Knowles Collection, San Francisco. Estimate: DKK 350,000-400,000.

Cabinet from Torbenfeldt Castle in black lacquered wood with gilt decoration in Japanese style. Mid-18th century. Estimate: DKK 400,000-500,000.

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Ever since the 1500s Asian furniture and art pieces have been coveted in the West. This meant that many Chinese craftsmen began producing furniture directly to the market in Europe, whereby a special export style emerged, since many of the Chinese furniture pieces were adapted to the wants and taste of Europeans.

At the next auction in the Bredgade Saleroom we will have a fine example of a Chinese export furniture – an exquisite export bureau cabinet in black and gilt lacquer from approximately 1740, which stems from the famous American shipping heiress and patron of the arts Diana Dollar Knowles’ collection.

The Dream of China

The demand for Chinese furniture was enormous among Europe's royal and noble families during the 1700s. The import of Chinese furniture from Canton to Denmark is well documented. The Danish royal couple Christian VI and Sophie Magdalene in particular, seemed to have had a particular preference for Chinese furniture. They were themselves avid buyers of this type of furniture for the larger castles built during their reign. The royal couple also hired leading Danish craftsmen to decorate a number of Chinese-inspired rooms and had a Chinese pavilion built at Hirschholm Castle.

Due to the great demand European craftsmen also attempted to copy the East Asian craftsmen’s motifs and techniques, which can be seen in the offered Northern European black japanned cabinet in Chinoiserie style from the mid-1700s, in which original Chinese elements are incorporated. It comes from Torbenfeldt Castle on Sealand, formerly known as Frydendal Castle, which has housed several Danish noble families including Moltke, Gøye and Brahe.

Exotic Lacquer on European Furniture

Especially popular in the West was the elaborate lacquerwork, which the two furniture pieces mentioned here are fine examples of. In many cases the furniture was made in accordance with European standards, and was subsequently decorated with lacquer by Chinese and Japanese craftsmen.

Already at the end of the 1600s drawings and models of European furniture were sent to China. In an English letter dating from approximately 1700 it is described how several English craftsmen were sent out by the British East India Company to teach Chinese craftsmen how to make furniture with the correct proportions, so the pieces could be sold in England and in the rest of the European countries.

International Auction

Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers, Bredgade 33, 1260 Copenhagen

Preview: 19-23 November

Auction: 25 November

See the selection of antique furniture

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