Chinese Wedding Boxes

1 August 1988

Interior Design

Chinese wedding boxes are the hope chests of the East, with one major
difference. While the custom of buying and storing clothing and
household goods for use after marriage has been around for two or even
three hundred years in the West, in China the practice goes back one
thousand years.

In ancient China, the wedding boxes were a sign of conspicuous
consumption. The more boxes the family contributed to the marriage, the
wealthier they were thought to be, and the higher on the social scale.
Before the wedding ceremony, the boxes were paraded through the streets
of the town or city. This event was a matter of great interest to the
townspeople; they would gather to observe, to gossip and to speculate
about the size and the quality of the dowry contained in the boxes.

The boxes varied in size from a few inches to the dimensions of large
traveling trunks, and they were made by communal effort. First a local
carpenter would make a simple box and lid of pine, balsam or some other
soft wood. Another craftsman would cover it with pigskin, stitching the
leather through the wood. One skin was used for the top of the lid and
the back of the box to attach the lid and create a simple hinge. Then an
artist would paint the leather-covered box with a wedding scene, a
landscape or a pattern of branches, flowers and birds. Finally, with the
addition of brass handles and a decorative round lock and key, the box
was complete.

Before the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) wedding boxes were simpler. The wood
box was painted and covered with lacquer; the only ornaments were the
brass closure and handles. During the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644) that followed, the leather-covered boxes proliferated. The
pigskin was painted vermilion, reddish brown, dark brown, black or
white. In later years, the designs on the boxes became increasingly
ornate, but many of the examples with less decoration remain
exceptionally beautiful.

Betty Ecke's pamphlet on Chinese Folk Art, which accompanied an exhibit
several years ago at the China Institute, included some charming
examples of wedding boxes. Her designation of the boxes as folk art is
illuminating. One reason is their utility--they were invariably created
for a specific purpose. Another consideration is the fact that they were
made by the joint efforts of several local artisans rather than one
artist with a singular vision.

It is interesting to speculate on how these beautiful and useful boxes
came to this country. Missionaries to China probably brought them back
as souvenirs. Chinese immigrants undoubtedly used the boxes to pack
their belongings for their trip to the new world. Clipper ships that
sailed the Eastern routes and traded with the Orient returned with boxes
and trunks filled with textiles and spices.

Chinese wedding boxes are not easy to find. In New York Vito Giallo,
whose small shop on Madison Avenue is full of treasures, occasionally
discovers one. The box in the photograph, which belongs to me, was
hidden beneath a pile of paisleys in his shop. Garvin Mecking on East
11th Street has the best selection, although his last batch was sold as
it was unpacked. Tom Ballin on Second Avenue has some from time to time.
I have located most wedding boxes (and if the price is right I buy them
whenever I see them) out of Manhattan. New England is a good source, not
surprising in view of the fact that clipper ships sailed from Northeast
harbors. I found one gorgeous box painted with peonies and butterflies
in Chicago, and a small black box with white dogwood in Virginia. Once
in a while I discover a fabulous large trunk at an antique show.

These boxes make wonderful accessories. I have used small ones on coffee
tables to hold coasters and cocktail napkins. In my living room is a
stack of wedding trunks; the largest one accommodates my collection of
patchwork quilt tops, the middle one is packed with all our loose family
snapshots, and the smallest one holds odds and ends of lace and
embroidery. A large box can be used as a coffee table, with or without a
wood frame. I usually have a glass top made to preserve the painting.
When a square box turns up, I use it as an end table for an upholstered
chair.

With all their variety of size and shape, color and theme, Chinese
wedding boxes are infinitely useful in decorating.

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