Korean Medicine Chest, 16 Drawers with Carved Characters, Brass Fish Lock, Mid-20th Century

A Korean apothecary chest, the kind made for a village herbalist and later for the export trade, with sixteen small drawers above a two-door cupboard. Each drawer front is cut from figured elm with a wild, striped grain and carved with a character naming what once went inside. Brass ring pulls on every drawer.

The doors are held shut by a brass fish lock on a butterfly-shaped plate, with butterfly hinges to match. Brass corner mounts at the winged top and the feet, and the whole thing stands on a cutout bracket base in the traditional style.

The drawers are shallow and there are a lot of them, which is the point. Tea, spices, jewelry, hardware, sewing notions, the things that never have a home. Put it in a hallway or beside a sofa and it does the work of a side table with a drawer for everything.