Chinese Horseshoe Back Armchair with Hidden Compartment

Little armchair that hides a box under the seat and sticks its arms out like handles.

This horseshoe back armchair with hidden compartment is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is elm wood & bamboo. Once China slowly opened to visiting diplomats and businessmen, a trickle of antique furniture leaving the country became a flood that lasted through the 1980s, the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Curved hoop-shaped top rail flows into outswept arms, with a narrow central splat. The seat is a flat board over a plain paneled box with stout posts. Two round carrying poles project sideways. Honey brown, rubbed and dry. It is 26 inches long, 25 deep and 28 high.

Practical, portable, and a little bit amusing from the side.