Chinese Altar Table with Scroll Motif

Black desk with gilded carving across the front and a shelf at each side.

This altar table with scroll motif is from Fujian Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is carved, lacquered, painted & gilded pine 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. Long black table with two small side compartments and an open lower shelf at each end. A deep carved frieze with gilt highlights runs across the apron and down the legs. The finish is dark and worn with gold wearing through. It is 79.25 inches long, 18.5 deep and 46.5 high.

A little glitter along the edges, for decorum.