Antique Chinese Ladies’ Carved Dressing Table with Mirror

Antique Chinese Ladies’ Carved Dressing Table with Mirror Shanghai Merchant Commission, Late Qing Dynasty, circa 1890–1910 Fully Restored, Original Patina Preserved

An exquisitely charming hand-carved three-drawer ladies’ dressing table, meticulously restored to recapture its fin-de-siècle splendour, stands as a testament to the refined domestic luxury of a wealthy Shanghai merchant family. Originally commissioned as a “face-washing table” (xi lian ji), this intimate piece was crafted for a privileged lady’s morning toilette—where porcelain basins of rosewater, ivory combs, and pearl hairpins once rested upon its polished surface. Crafted in a Shanghai guild workshop during the late Qing export boom, this table blends traditional Suzhou carving techniques with Western-influenced proportions—a hallmark of the city’s cosmopolitan merchant class. It once graced a second-floor boudoir overlooking the Bund, where the lady of the house performed her daily ritual amid the hum of rickshaws and steamships.

• Structure: Elevated on four boldly turned and carved legs with ball-and-claw feet, connected by a pierced apron of intertwining ruyi clouds and peony scrolls.
• Top: A thick, single-plank elm slab with softly rounded edges, bearing the silken patina of generations of camellia-oil polishing.
• Drawers:
  • Central drawer with original brass lotus-pull and hidden compartment.
  • Two flanking drawers for jewelry or cosmetics, each lined in faded crimson silk damask (period replacement).
• Mirror Frame: A towering openwork crest rises like a miniature spirit screen—pierced and relief-carved with phoenixes amidst peonies, dragons chasing flaming pearls, and lingzhi clouds, all framed by dragon-head finials. The original mercury-glass mirror retains its foxed, silvery bloom, reflecting light with a dreamy, antique softness.

Modern Versatility

Far more than a vanity, this piece is a sculptural heirloom ideal for:

• High-End Fashion Boutique: A dramatic display pedestal for silk scarves, handbags, or statement jewellery—its mirror reflecting luxury from every angle.
• Residential Glamour: A foyer console, bedside altar, or powder-room centrepiece.
• Collector’s Pride: A rare surviving example of Shanghai Qing domestic intimacy.

A whisper of old Shanghai glamour, restored yet untouched by time—this ladies’ table is not merely furniture, but a portal to a vanished world of elegance, ritual, and quiet opulence.