Naga Pounding Table with Base

Five round holes, a long curve, and a stand that keeps it off the ground.

This pounding table with base is Naga, from Nagaland in Northeast India, early 20th century, in jungle wood and wrought iron. Naga households and villages traditionally used long wooden tables or troughs to husk rice with pestles. The top is a long plank, slightly bowed, with round holes of varying size in a line. A rough block support with a triangular opening sits beneath. Iron posts lift the whole thing on a flat plate. It is 141 inches long, 27 deep and 32 high.

Nobody will mistake this for a dining table. Some will try anyway.