Description and Design

A pair of side cabinets decorated with Chinese landscape scenes framed by scrolling foliage and trelliswork borders. The tops sit above a pair of panelled doors, which open to reveal two adjustable interior shelves. Each cabinet stands on finely modelled brass paw feet.

Lacquer Panels and Chinese Influence

These exceptional cabinets feature panels depicting idyllic lakeside pavilions and garden vignettes—scenes that echo the landscapes of classical Chinese painting. The lacquer panels used here were imported from Canton (Guangzhou) by the East India Company during  the 18th century. They embody a tangible link to global trade, cross-cultural exchange, and early modern Europe’s fascination with the East.

The depth and luminosity of the lacquer, with its finely rendered motifs, contrast beautifully with the surrounding japanned decoration, creating a richly layered surface both visually and symbolically. In incorporating Chinese lacquer with Japanned decoration made in England, the cabinets acquire a superb material richness.

Chinoiserie and the Cultural Imagination

To understand the significance of such cabinets, one must consider the broader cultural climate of the early 19th century. Britain had been trading with China through the East India Company for over a century, and goods such as porcelain, lacquerware, silk, and tea had become fixtures in elite households. These imports were prized not only for their beauty but for the exotic allure they embodied—symbols of refinement, ancient civilisation, and the mysterious “other.”

The term chinoiserie came to describe this aesthetic impulse: a European fantasy of China, loosely based on real motifs but filtered through romantic imagination.

Enlightenment Influence and Philosophical Fascination

The taste for Chinese inspired decoration coincided with interest in non-European systems of thought. Figures such as Voltaire who admired Confucian ethics, and Adam Smith, who recognised the strength of China’s longstanding imperial economy began to influence and popularise Chinese culture.

Jesuit missionaries returning from the Qing court further fuelled this fascination by reporting on its order, ritual, and magnificence. In the arts, Chinese inspired decoration, offered a way to engage with these ideas while projecting wealth, worldliness, and cultivated taste.

Regency Revival and the Prince Regent’s Influence

The Prince Regents transformation of Brighton Pavilion into an architectural fantasy of Eastern splendour sparked renewed enthusiasm for lacquerware, Chinese porcelain, and exotic motifs.

In this context, the present cabinets exemplify the refined eclecticism of the Regency age—where classic structure met imported luxury and imaginative escapism.

A Hybrid Aesthetic: Form and Fantasy

These cabinets capture the aesthetic that defined the Regency period. Their structure is, architectural, symmetrical, and practical—while their decoration conjures a fantasy of distant landscapes.

This combination of classical form and exotic fantasy is what makes these cabinets so desirable.