Chinese Flat File Side Cabinet with 6 Drawers

The lacquer has crazed into a fine web, like a dry riverbed glossed over.

This flat file side cabinet with 6 drawers comes from Hebei Province, China, and is contemporary, in crackle finish lacquer and elm wood. Crackle finishes are generally made by letting layers of lacquer or paint dry at different rates, so the top coat splits into a network of fine lines. The case is a deep black-brown, with the strongest crackle on the drawer fronts. Six brass bail pulls line up down the middle, and thin reddish edges outline each drawer. A plain black base with square legs supports it. It is 19 inches long, 25 deep and 20.5 high.

Old-looking on purpose, and very good at it.