Enchanted Garden Coffer

This elegant 19th-century coffer was crafted of elm (yumu) with a square corner frame and four doors, each decorated with a traditional bird-and-flower painting. The serene garden vignettes depict the flowers of the four seasons, including plum blossoms for winter, peonies for spring, lotus for summer and chrysanthemums for autumn. Birds and butterflies flit throughout and a border of floral scrollwork traces the outer frame. Contrasted by the richly aged black lacquer finish, the painted decoration is rendered in gilt pigments atop red lacquer, now faded for brassy color and subtle iridescence.