A Ming lacquer table @ Victoria & Albert Museum

Lacquer table, 28 x 94 x 41 cm, China, Ming, c.1400 - 1420, Victoria & Albert Museum © V&A Picture Library

It is covered overall in red lacquer which is then decorated in the 'qiang jin' incised gold technique, whereby the pattern is incised with a sharp point and subsequently filled in with gold leaf. It was acquired in 1993 for  £42,000 with  £10,500 from The Art Fund from Nicholas Grindley. (www.artfund.org)