Chinese Wood Table: Elmwood Frame with Cypress Inset Top

Square, level and unlikely to take sides.

This table with an elmwood frame and cypress inset top comes from Shanxi Province, China, 19th century. Square tables of this type are widely known in China as eight immortals tables, for the number of guests they can seat. The top holds several boards of paler cypress within a darker frame, and the seams and checks are easy to see. Below the waist, a stretcher runs close under the top and steps down at each end to meet the legs. The legs are round and slightly splayed. Thirty-nine inches square and 32.5 high.

Four sides. No head of the table. A small diplomatic triumph.