Chinese Low Table with Stone Inset Top

A table with a frieze of little windows and legs that end in neat hooves.

This low table with stone inset top is from Hebei Province, China, and is contemporary, made of elm wood and stone. Hoof-shaped feet are a classic detail of Chinese furniture, generally traced back to the earliest periods of formal cabinetmaking. A dark stone panel is set into the top inside a wide frame of reddish-brown elm. Under the apron, a slim stretcher is broken by short uprights into a row of open panels, and stepped square brackets fill each corner. The finish is worn warm along the edges. It is 35.5 inches square and 19 high.

Some tables just look as though they have opinions about tea.