Pair Of Stools Or Side Tables Painted And Lacquered Wood - Period: 20th Century

Elegant pair of Chinese stools or side tables in wood, painted and lacquered.
The cabriole-shaped legs are topped by a hand-carved and painted round base. 

The tops are decorated with yellow-orange, red and green floral motifs and a small bird sitting on a branch, magnified by the presence of a "Greek Key" motif on the surrounding top edge.

The central base is further decorated with yellow and salmon floral motifs.
The whole is magnified by gold highlights of Peking engraved in the wood.

Period : XXth century
Circa : 1945-1950
Dimensions : Height : 47cm x width : 46cm
                      Diameter : 35,5cm

Insoluble resin, rot-proof, of a rare resistance and adhering to many materials (wood, metal, leaves, metal, leather...), the lacquer was first used as a simple coating to protect weapons, objects or furniture. 

But its many qualities were soon exploited in an aesthetic vein and techniques were developed, becoming increasingly complex over the centuries.

From dry lacquer to painted, carved or inlaid lacquer, a hundred were listed during the Ming period (1368-1644). 
Widely used in the decoration of furniture and precious objects from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), it was, until the 1980s, based on a codified aesthetic and traditional forms.