Chinese Wood Manuscript Box

Domed lid, a brass lock, and a scalloped base on a long narrow box.

This manuscript box is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 18th century. It is elm wood. As original period furniture became harder to find, restoration artists began salvaging fragments from incomplete pieces to make complete ones, and eventually full reproductions began to surface. In form it is a long, narrow chest with a rounded lid and a brass lock plate at the center. A carved wavy base molding runs underneath. The warm brown surface is worn with pale patches. It is 39.5 inches long, 11 deep and 9.75 high.

Rounded top, neat brass, and an unassuming air.