Lot 311: AN INDIAN POLYCHROME PAINTED WOODEN STORAGE CHEST, 19TH - 20TH CENTURY

A late nineteenth or early twentieth-century Indian storage chest constructed from wooden planks with a hinged lid and four bracket-style feet. The exterior is entirely decorated with polychrome narrative painting in the Rajasthani miniature style, finished with a protective lacquer. The lid panel depicts a palace courtyard scene featuring five figures in traditional royal attire flanking a central domed pavilion, set beneath a dark sky with stylized clouds and framed by a floral border. The front panel illustrates a royal procession against a yellow ground, including a horse-drawn rath and an ox-drawn cart attended by footmen and courtiers. The right side features three standing figures in courtly dress, while the left side shows a menagerie in a landscape including a rhinoceros, peacock, lion, and deer. The rear is painted with further animal and landscape scenes. Two iron drop-ring carrying handles are mounted to the sides. The front features a central keyhole, and the interior is unfinished wood showing the natural grain and age-related darkening.

46 x 30 x 25cm