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Tibetan Folding Painted Table 18th Century browse these categories for related items... All Items: Antiques:Regional Art:Asian:Indian Subcontinent:Himalayas: Pre 1800: item # 639466 Please refer to our stock # 62-34 when inquiring.
Silk Road Gallery PO Box 2175 Branford, Connecticut 06405, USA (203) 208-0771 Guest Book SOLD |
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| This 18th century Tibetan painted table has three collapsible sides that fold under the top, making it portable and practical for a way of life built around long pilgrimages. The spirit of monks and whole families traveling across mountain passes is evoked in the design and still-vivid colors of this table. It may have been the only item of furniture owned by a nomadic family. Or it may have been carried on the back of a yak with monks on their way to visit remote villages. The table top shows signs of heavy use but the sides and frame are still sturdy and retain bright designs and gesso work. Gesso in a foliage pattern decorates the rim of the top and the open frame, which is carved to simulate bamboo. (See a similar table in the article "Painted Tibetan Furniture" by Tony Anninos, Arts of Asia, January/February 1997, p.64.) Carvings of Chinese characters in roundels are wrapped around the four corners of the apron and decorate the center front. Chinese characters, particularly those for long life and good fortune, had been integrated into Tibetan art forms for hundreds of years before this table was made. It is constructed of pine, readily available in Tibet. Dimensions: height 12.5" (31cm), width 26" (66cm), depth 12.5" (66cm). | |||||||||||||
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