Chinese Partners Desk with 8 Drawers

Lengthy black table with a slim frame and a row of shallow drawer fronts.

This partners desk with 8 drawers is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the early 19th century. It is lacquered 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. Here is a low rectangular table with a dark, flat top and a narrow apron with shallow drawer fronts. Slender square legs have small curved braces at the corners. The finish is black and slightly worn. It is 72 inches long, 33.5 deep and 31 high.

Plain and lean, with every line in order.