Chinese Wood Stool: Barrel Form

A single knot sits on its side like a bullseye.

This stool in barrel form comes from China and is contemporary, made of elm wood. Elm, once among the most common woods in northern Chinese furniture, is generally prized for its strength and expressive grain. This wider, lower stool bulges at the middle and tapers to round ends, its finish a deep reddish brown that turns almost black in places. Concentric growth rings spread out from a knot on the side, and wavy figure ripples across the upper half. It is 17.5 inches long, 17.5 deep and 16 high.

The tree left its fingerprint, and nobody sanded it off.