Chinese Handcarved Bird Cage Tower with Dragon Legs

The bird gets the top floor, the roof and a small lattice door.

This handcarved bird cage tower with dragon legs comes from China and is contemporary, in lacquered elmwood and brass. Keeping songbirds is a long-loved pastime in China, where owners enjoyed their song and took pride in fine cages, and a tower like this makes the bird part of the furniture. A tiled pagoda-style roof tops the piece above a tall cage of thin bars. Below are a drawer and a pair of small doors with brass fittings. The base flares into scaled carving with clawed feet. Black lacquer covers most of it. Eighty inches high, 28 long and 28 deep.

Few tenants have asked for less and received more.