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Painted Tibetan Box-Table browse these categories for related items... Directory: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Indian Subcontinent:Himalayas:Pre 1900: item # 159871 Please refer to our stock # 58-97 when inquiring.
Silk Road Gallery PO Box 2175 Branford, Connecticut 06405, USA (203) 208-0771 Guest Book SOLD |
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| Used in Tibetan monasteries to serve tea and perform rituals, low tables such as this one have long, pull-out drawers or boxes to hold Buddhist texts and scrolls. The front and both ends of this 19th century box-table are covered with painted foliage and flowers outlined with gesso. Wood aprons with a Tibetan design that incorporates the swastika, Buddhist symbol of law, extend the table almost to the floor on the front and sides. Most Tibetan furniture was made of coniferous softwoods available at higher altitudes. This table is pine, and the mortise and tenon joinery, partially concealed by the painting, also is typically Tibetan. The top and back of the table were finished but left unpainted. The long drawer has a brass pull. Since very few Tibetan homes had furniture, forms were limited to the low tables, chests and trunks used in the monasteries. As with Tibetan furniture we have had in the past, this table was coated with butter-lamp soot that mostly obscured the painting. The soot, plus the dry Tibetan climate and lack of insects most likely help to preserve such pieces. While we carefully removed the soot layer by layer, the table and painting remain in very good condition.(For an overview of antique Tibetan furniture, see "Painted Tibetan Furniture," Arts of Asia, January/February 1997.) Tibetan painted furniture adds a colorfully exotic dimension to Western interiors. This table is an appropriate size for use as a low coffee table or side table. Dimensions: height 14 3/16" (36 cm), width 32 3/4" (83 cm), depth 12 7/8" (33 cm). | |||||||||||||
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