Chinese Wood Stool: Convex Shape

Square at the top, square at the bottom, and pleasantly round in the middle.

This stool with convex shape is from China and is contemporary, in elm wood. Chinese makers have long worked elm, a durable hardwood with pronounced grain, into practical seating and tables. This one is a square block with its four sides bowed outward, so the corners curve from a flat top to a flat base. Arching grain lines meet in chevrons down the middle of each face, under a warm honey-brown finish. It is 12 inches long, 12 deep and 17.5 high.

Geometry, gently softened by lunch.