Chinese Door Lintel with Phoenix Motif, Based

A long carved beam crowded with creatures and leafy scrolls, propped on a slim black stand.

This door lintel with phoenix motif is by Carved Poplar, from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 18th century. Collectors generally weigh aesthetics, age, condition, design, origin and provenance when judging antique furniture, though the article argues that scarcity ends up with the greatest influence on value. Long horizontal carved panel crowded with scrolling forms, small figures and creatures in low relief. Both ends swell into heavier carved blocks. The surface is pale and weathered with darker recesses, and a thin black stand supports it. It is 94.5 inches long, 7.5 deep and 16 high.

Crowded with detail, and not a bit shy.