Jumu Recessed Leg Table

The profile of this simple and elegant recessed leg table resembles the Chinese character for the number one written as a single horizontal stroke. Made of jumu, or southern elm wood, it features masterful mortise-and-tenon joinery. Jumu is treasured in its native southern China for its density and fine grain. A table of this form may have originally been used for reading scrolls, making offerings or simply as a place in the early 19th century Chinese home on which a vase with flowers or other decorative objects were displayed.