Wood Jiali Chair

Curved top, flat seat, and not a single unnecessary flourish.

This jiali chair dates to the 20th century. It is sand blasted elm wood. Tibetans were traditionally semi-nomadic and owned few personal furnishings, so most Tibetan furniture stood in monasteries, and some of it was carted over the Himalayas to India as monasteries were destroyed. Chair framed by a smooth continuous crest and arm rail with upturned tips. The wide splat has a warm, streaky grain, and the paneled seat shows a faint border groove. Below sit a shaped apron and two low stretchers. It is 22.5 inches long, 17.5 deep and 30 high.

The sort of restraint that quietly wins the room.