Chinese Parsons Style Bench

One solid sweep of dark bench, with sides that fall straight down.

This parsons style bench is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the late 18th or early 19th century. It is lacquered poplar. 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. Plain slab top turns down at the ends in broad panels, forming a clean arch without any legs. Smooth, almost black surface with a glossy sheen and visible grain. No ornament at all, only proportion. It is 52 inches long, 17 deep and 16 high.

All line, no frills, and rather good at it.