Antique Chinese Rectangular Stool With Drawers

Details

Description

The low two drawer stool can be a stool but it was at one time, a writing table with drawers … Read more The low two drawer stool can be a stool but it was at one time, a writing table with drawers for stationery, or storage on the kang for personal items, or in use today as a stool. The object is like a miniature altar table with recessed sides. The panel legs are openwork, carved into a pretty design, like floral scrolls. Two connected wood panels form the top, but has a separation due to age. It is hard to identify the wood, but the wood grains are distinctive. The stool is done in the traditional method, hand made, mortise and tenon and other types of joinery were used. There is attention to details, such as the beaded edges on the legs and the double rims of the table top. This stool does not identify its origin but a good guess it was made by craftsmen of Shanxi in North Central China in the 19th century. The stool is its original patina, the lacquer has worn off at the table top.

An explanation why this stool could have been a table at one time is this - there is no central heating in ancient Chinese houses. To keep warm in winter, "kangs" are built in rooms. A kang is a brick platform with an small opening on the exterior. Fire wood or any type of fuel that could be burned were placed under the kang to keep the platform warm. So furniture for use on the kang had to be short because people had to be reclining or sitting up on the platform. See less