Chinese Coffer with 8 Doors

Four pairs of small black doors in a low, long cabinet, each with a tiny latch.

This coffer with 8 doors is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is lacquered elm wood. Tibetans were traditionally semi-nomadic and owned few personal furnishings, so most Tibetan furniture stood in monasteries, and some of it was carted over the Himalayas to India as monasteries were destroyed. Long, low black cabinet with a flat top and four door pairs across the front. Each pair closes on a small pale metal latch. The finish is smooth and dark, and the legs are short blocks. It is 132.25 inches long, 16.5 deep and 32 high.

Dark, sleek, and quite possibly good at keeping secrets.