Planks from dismantled houses, selected by Sandry Law
In 2022, Sandry Law was sourcing aged tea-wood for a chá pán run when a contact in Lincang mentioned a crew salvaging beams from old farmhouses slated for demolition. The houses — built after the Cultural Revolution — used locally felled Chinese elm that had endured half a century of monsoon humidity, sun, and smoke from indoor hearths. The wood had a density and colour depth no kiln-dried stock could replicate.
Sandry spent three days picking slabs that showed live edges with bark still clinging, striking grain patterns, and minimal cracking. The 45 cm height of this side table came from a single beam section, sliced to sit exactly at elbow level beside a main tea table. Back in Kunming, the slab was air-dried under shade for another two years before being hand-finished with raw tung oil — nothing synthetic, because the table needs to breathe alongside tea steam and hot kettles.
Every side table ships with a map of the grain and a note on the original house location. It’s furniture that carries a memory of Yunnan domestic life into your chá-shì.