Tibetan Monk's Writing Table with Om Mane Padme Hum Motif

A mantra runs across the front, in gold, above a dragon in its circle.

This monk's writing table with Om Mane Padme Hum motif comes from Tibet, 19th century, in carved and painted wood. Monks sat on the floor at low tables like this to read and copy Buddhist texts. Om Mane Padme Hum, the best known mantra of Tibetan Buddhism, is associated with Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It appears here in gold-colored script on a red panel. Below it, a carved dragon coils in a round medallion between scrolling clouds, and more dragons climb the square legs. Thirty-three and a half inches long, 14.5 deep, 20.25 high.

It sits low, and asks the writer to do the same.