Chinese Side Table with Hoof Feet

Four hoof feet, one wide top, and no urge to explain itself.

This side table with hoof feet is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the 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. Wide square table with a flat inset top and a thick apron around all four sides. Legs bow slightly outward and end in small angular hooves. Dark brown with a soft sheen and a few scuffs on the corners. It is 26 inches long, 26 deep and 17.5 high.

Dignified in the way only a flat surface can be.