Seating Benches

By the door of a Shanxi farmhouse stands a long elm bench, polished pale by sitting. Antique Chinese benches in northern elmwood come first: long Shanxi benches with cloud-carved aprons, low lute benches made to hold a qin, Ming-style forms with splayed legs and pegged joints. From Ethiopia come Oromo benches with plaited leather seats stretched over hand-adzed frames; from India, iron-strapped hardwood and carved Makrana marble; from Iran, benches built from Qashqai mafrash, the woven bedding bags of nomads. Indonesian teak, a carved Baga bench from Guinea and Senufo benches cut from a single log stand beside contemporary designs in reclaimed hardwood, walnut and iron.

Most of the old pieces date from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: worn lacquer, softened edges, seats polished by generations. A long elm bench steadies the foot of a bed; a leather-strung Oromo bench brings texture to a stair landing. Room for one more, and no one in a hurry.