Chinese Wood Stool: Barrel Form

Grain swirls across it like a topographic map of somewhere hilly.

This stool in barrel form comes from China and is contemporary, in elm wood. Elm has long been a mainstay of Chinese vernacular furniture, valued for its strength and its bold, wavy grain. The stool swells gently at the middle and narrows to flat circular ends, its sides cut in long, faceted panels. A warm amber finish brings out the flame-like figure of the grain, with dark growth rings rippling across every surface. It is 13 inches long, 13 deep and 17.25 high.

A drum that would rather be sat upon than played.