Chinese Side Table with Hoof Feet

A low square table with horse-hoof feet and a top as calm as a pond.

This side table with hoof feet is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is lacquered elm wood. As original period furniture became harder to find, restoration artists began salvaging fragments from incomplete pieces to make complete ones, and eventually full reproductions began to surface. Square low table with a flat top set in a plain frame and a deep apron. Four legs curve gently outward and finish in squared hoof-like feet. Very dark brown finish, smooth and even with faint wear on the edges. It is 26 inches long, 26 deep and 17.5 high.

Plain, low and perfectly content with it.