Minneapolis Institute of Art

Two-Drawer Table

China

Date

17th century

Medium

Huanghuali hardwood

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

While useful for the storage of small items, recessed-leg tables with drawers do not appear often in late Ming woodcuts or paintings and relatively few have survived. The late Ming edition of the Lu Ban Ching carpenter's manual does, however, illustrate a woman using a two-drawer table like this one in combination with a mirror stand as a dressing table. The sumptuous carving of flowering plum branches on the drawer fronts is decoration appropriate to women's furniture. China, Asia

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.