Antique Chinese Writing Desk. Late 19th Century, in Very Good Condition.

This attractive piece is an antique writing slope made in the late 19th century (circa 1900) for the Chinese market. The item is made of lacquered wood and outside boasts a wonderful decoration with hand-painted traditional Chinese scenes. They are all painted with gold lacquers on a black background. The lacquer is in good condition, with no broken or missing parts. The writing slope keeps its original metal handles, secret drawers knob, hooks and hinges. The lock is also original thought the key is missing.When open, the writing slope shows a flat inclined surface covered by dark brown leather. This material is also well preserved, regular and with no torn parts. The wood that frames the leather surface is painted gold, with a shiny color that makes a nice contrast with the dark leather. At the top of the writing surface we can see the classic compartments designed to store writing utensils. The wooden pieces are original and show signs of deep use that provide this lovely antique with life and personality.The outside decoration depicts a series of traditional Oriental scenes, drawn skillfully by an excellent artist. The five scenes (there is one at the top and four at the sides) take place in the same scenery, a landscape with a series of Oriental-style temples and buildings surrounded by trees. The top scene depicts a series of male and female figures surrounding a man who sits at a circular table. The other pictures show different sequences with two or more figures at the same place; in some of them the table appears too. All the scenes are painted with lacquers in different shades of gold on a black background.The striking beauty of its hand-painted decoration turns this writing slope into a collectors item, perfect to belong to a good lover of handwriting and calligraphy.Measurements (open): Width: 430 mm. Depth: 430 mm.