Hongmu Or Zitan Hardwood Table? China Qing Dynasty.

Small table with drawer, with intermediate top. The sides and front of the drawer are carved with flowering branches and birds in high relief. The tenon and mortise assembly is robust, the tenons are visible which is a particularity in China of very old furniture. The very hard and dense wood has a very fine grain, it is abnormally heavy. Its color is dark red-brown, almost black in places, it could be purple sandalwood called Zitan by the Chinese. Some interior parts are in lighter wood, it would seem that it is Huang-Hualy because as we can see (on a photo of the inside of the drawer) the orange wood panel shows a well-marked sapwood, more yellow, which is typical of Huang-hualy wood. The northern Chinese only used the very expensive Zitan (rare and exported from the south) for luxurious furniture, but our tablet is very simple, the style and the decoration are also, but it is proven that the Zitan was also used in certainly southern region by the natives for local cabinetmaking, sometimes. The style of our table seems to be from the 19th century. The significant shrinkage of the wood (moreover on hardwood) attests to its great antiquity. Let us think of the old merchant proverb "You must buy like Hongmu and sell like Zitan" Complete piece of furniture, no replaced elements, significant shrinkage of the wood, notably of the top, formerly filled by tinted wooden flipots. The drawer grip knob in porcelain. 72x39cm