Chinese Wood Sawhorse Bench

Thick plank seat on splayed round legs, plain as bread.

This sawhorse bench is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 19th 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. Long, narrow bench with a thick plank top in reddish brown. Four stout round legs splay slightly and pass through the top. The surface is smooth, with worn edges. It is 41 inches long, 7 deep and 20 high.

No cushions, no ornament, no complaints.