Writing Table

Seoan is a table used for reading or writing. Under the tabletop were shelves or drawers, and most of the tables had a drawer. Pinewood was the most favored material, though shiny xylosma wood, black persimmon wood, and mulberry wood were also used. While most furniture was generally placed against the wall of a room, seoan was placed at the center of a room. It was not only used for reading and writing, but also set the location of the room’s owner when sitting face to face with a guest. The seoan shown here was made of pinewood except for the side panels of drawers, which were made of paulownia wood. The lower part of the front comprises a shelf, and the upper part includes two drawers decorated with the motif of a Buddhist ceremonial scepter and a ring-shaped handle. The tabletop and side panels were connected with penetrated mortise and tenon joints, and the shelf board and side panels were joined with blind mortise and tenon joints. The long wooden strut between the drawers had blind tenons inserted into both top and bottom boards. The lower part of the side panels were carved into double openwork domes to form the legs.