Chinese Low Table with Marble Inset Top

Black frame, white stone, and storm clouds drifting across the middle.

This low table with marble inset top comes from Hebei Province, China, and is contemporary, in elm wood and marble. Chinese furniture makers have set stone into wooden tops for centuries, often choosing slabs whose natural markings suggest mountains, mist or water. Here a pale marble panel, swept with soft gray veining, is framed by a broad band of glossy black lacquered elm. The legs are thick and square, set flush with the corners in a clean, block-like stance. A little reddish wood shows through at the edges. It is 39 inches square and 19 high.

Equally at ease with a teapot or a stack of very serious books.