Chinese Elm Three-Drawer Coin Table with Iron Pulls & Nailhead Panels, c. 1890 View Watchlist >
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Lot # F1127
System ID # 29846969
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Chinese Elm Three-Drawer Coin Table with Iron Pulls & Nailhead Panels, c. 1890
A late-19th-century Chinese elm side table from Shanxi Province, built in the sturdy country tradition with a single wide drawer over two smaller drawers. The drawer fronts are worked in relief with shaped cartouches and outlined with rows of domed iron nailheads, the ring pulls hung through pierced coin-form backplates that read as small bronze cash coins. A carved scrolling apron runs beneath the case, and the plank top — a full 1.75" thick — floats on exposed mortise-and-tenon joinery through squared legs.
Construction is entirely traditional: hand-planed surfaces, a finished back, and dovetailed drawer boxes that show honest tool marks inside. The elm carries a deep reddish-brown patina with figured grain across the top and a natural burl inclusion on the back panel. A workshop shop mark is present on the piece. Tables of this form served as multipurpose storage in the main room of a northern Chinese household, the small locking drawers holding valuables while the broad top stayed in daily use.
History
Elmwood (yumu) was the workhorse hardwood of northern China, favored in Shanxi and Shandong for its strength and open grain. Provincial cabinetmakers of the Qing period built furniture like this for utility rather than the court, relying on nailhead ornament and pierced-coin hardware as the decorative vocabulary of the merchant household. The coin-motif backplates carry an auspicious wish for prosperity — appropriate hardware for a table meant to guard the family's small treasures.
CONDITION
Good. Finish wear and loss consistent with age, with wear to the top surface as shown in the reference photos, including a worn recessed area and old surface checking. The frame is sturdy and joinery remains tight; all three drawers slide. Iron pulls and nailheads intact with age-appropriate patina.
DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS
- Overall: 34" H × 42" W × 17 3/4" D
- Top thickness: 1.75"
- Leg: 2.5"
- Material: Solid elm
- Construction: Mortise-and-tenon frame; dovetailed, hand-planed drawers; finished back
- Origin: Shanxi Province, China
- Circa: 1890
- Hardware: Iron ring pulls with coin-form backplates; iron nailheads
- Bears a workshop shop mark
