Tibetan Wood Trunk

Two green dragons, one whiskered face, and a strong suggestion that you knock first.

This trunk comes from Tibet and dates to the 18th century. It is painted pine wood. Tibetan households and monasteries kept such painted trunks for clothing, ritual goods and valuables, often decorating them with Buddhist and Chinese motifs in raised gilding. On the front, a pair of dragons rears toward a central face beneath a crown of flowers, all set on an orange-red field. Heavy gold scrolls curl over dark blue in the four corners, edged by a thin green line. The lid looks worn down to bare wood. Forty-nine inches long and 23 high.

Moving it would involve some diplomacy.