Chinese Altar or Reception Table

Square table with a slatted lower shelf and a chunky, rustic build.

This altar or reception table is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 18th century. It is elm wood. 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. Square, pale-brown wooden table with a thick framed top and heavy square legs. A lower shelf of spaced slats sits between the legs. Joints show clearly, and the grain is rough and open. It is 39 inches long, 39 deep and 33 high.

Made with joinery that anyone can honestly read.