$648Sale Price|20% Off
Antique Japanese low display stand w/ drawer, Okidoko tansu, wabi sabi mingei
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
Antique "Okidoko"- wooden low display stand with drawer from Tohoku area, Japan. Manufactured in Circa 1900s to 1920s (Taisho to early Showa period) , estimate from the style & c...
Wood, Hardwood
A Louis XV Style Lacquer Commode, by Maxime Secrétant, Paris
By Maxime Secretant
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
Although Linke is thought toto have made only one example of this commode, which he sent to Japan for lacquering, it is plausible that the present commode was made for Secrétant by L...
Marble, Ormolu
19th C Edo Japanese Antique Mid-Size Black Urushi Tansu Chest with 4 Drawers
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
This tansu chest of drawers is made entirely from thick, high-quality solid sugi cedar boards. It is estimated to date from late Edo period, circa 1820s–1850s based on its tradition...
Wood, Cedar
Japanese Meiji Zebra Wood Tansu Chest in Isho-Dansu Style with Five Drawers
Located in Yonkers, NY
A Japanese Meiji period single section tansu clothing chest from the late 19th century in Isho-dansu style, with zebra wood, five drawers and carrying handles. Created in Japan durin...
Iron
1860s-1920s Japanese antique Black urushi Tansu chest of drawers wabi sabi
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
Antique mid-size tansu with 4 drawers - product of Meiji to Taisho period (estimate 1868-1926). Made with traditional woodworking jointly without metal fastener. Finished with blac...
Cedar, Wood
1886 (Meiji 19) Japanese antique dougu tansu, tool chest of drawers wabi sabi
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
From Daigo, Ibaraki pref., Japan. Antique dougu tansu, tool chest of drawers made of Yamizo Sugi cedar made in the year 1886 (Meiji 19). "Yamizo Sugi" is a premium quality Sugi ced...
Wood, Cedar
$1,088Sale Price|20% Off
1860s-1910s Meiji Japanese antique wabi sabi Urushi mid Tansu chest of drawers
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
From Kanto or Tohoku area, Japan. This mid tall size, Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers is a product of Meiji era (circa 1860s - 1910s) , estimate from the style & conditions....
Wood
Wooden drawer used by old Japanese lacquerware craftsmen/Made in 1963/Showa era
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This is a lacquerware craftsman's workbench made on January 8, 1963. The production date is written on the back of the drawer. This work drawer is a stand for applying red and black ...
Cedar
A Striking George I Period Japanned Chest of Drawers, England Circa 1720
Located in Ottawa, Ontario
A highly decorative George I Period japanned chest of drawers, showing an overhanging top over four tiers of short & full width drawers with stylistically correct albeit later ha...
Iron
1840s-1860s Edo Japanese antique wabi sabi desk organizer Tansu chest of drawers
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
Japanese antique shallow Tansu chest of drawers with 4 shelves - made of quality red pine & chestnut. The product of 1840s - 1860s (late Edo period) estimate from the style &...
Wood, Chestnut, Pine
$1,640Sale Price|20% Off
Edo Japanese Wabi-Sabi Dougu / Kusuri Tansu, Tool / Medicine chest Late 19th Cen
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
Product of late Edo period (estimate 1860s-1870s) in Aomori prefecture, Japan. Originally made as tool chest or medicine chest, made of thick, fine grade reddish Sugi cedar. The rus...
Wood, Cedar
1860s-80s Edo Japanese antique mid size Urushi Tansu chest of drawers, wabi sabi
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
Mid-size, Dark reddish brown Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers. Made of Sugi cedar - a product of late Edo to early Meiji era (circa 1860s-1880s) , estimate from the style &...
Wood, Cedar
1860s-80s Edo Japanese antique mid size Urushi Tansu chest of drawers, wabi sabi
Located in 常陸大宮市, JP
Mid-size, Dark reddish brown Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers. Made of Sugi cedar - a product of late Edo to early Meiji era (circa 1860s-1880s) , estimate from the style &...
Wood, Cedar
Daniel Cottier A Rare and Early Anglo-Japanese Ebonized Tall Chest of Drawers
By Daniel Cottier
Located in London, GB
A rare and early Anglo-Japanese ebonized tall chest of drawers, designed by Daniel Cottier with gilt painted swallow, stylized bamboo and plant forms with rosettes with a later black...
Marble
$3,128Sale Price|20% Off
Unusual Tall Meiji Period Japanese Tansu Wabi Sabi
Located in London, GB
A tall Japanese tansu/chest of drawers of highly unusual proportions . Four drawers with storage well to top. Heavily patinated cedar with many age old repairs.
Cedar
$9,445Sale Price|20% Off
Giorgio Collection Chest of Drawers Japanese Tamos Burl Wood
By Giorgio Collection
Located in New York, NY
Chest in moka Japanese tamos burl veneer with high-gloss polyester finish. Six full extension drawers. Two top drawers with bottom lined in velvet. Chrome stainless steel handles and...
Chrome
Rare Queen Anne Chinoiserie Japanned Chest On Stand
Located in Lymington, GB
A sophisticated Queen Anne-period chinoiserie japanned chest raised on elegant cabriole legs with ''pony foot'' carved detailing. This early-18th century chest on stand demonstrates...
Lacquer
Early 20th-Century Black Japanned and Gilt Chinoiserie Bureau
Located in London, Park Royal
A beautifully proportioned early 20th-century bureau, richly decorated in the English chinoiserie taste with gilt and polychrome scenes against a deep black-japanned ground. The fal...
Hardwood
Antique Japanese Tansu Campaign Style Orange Lacquer Stacking Chest
Located in Kennesaw, GA
This is an antique Asian Tansu campaign style stacking burnt orange lacquer chest. It has hand forged hardware with fish motif. This is a 19th century piece and does have some age ap...
Iron
Antique Low Japanese Chest with Drawers, Distressed Wood, 19th Century
Located in New York, US
Low Japanese Chest with Drawers Distressed with age, sourced in Japan
Wood
$3,880Sale Price / set|20% Off
3 Fabulous 20th Century Japanese style Stacking Tansu Chest of Drawers
By Baker Furniture Company
Located in Pemberton, NJ
3 fabulous 20th-century Japanese-style stacking Tansu chests of drawers. Each section can be used separately for versatility or stacked together to save space. Originally used to ...
Iron
$852Sale Price|50% Off
Wooden player - 19th century
Located in Porto, PT
Wooden dressing table - 19th century. 19th-century Japan; made of wood with metal appliqués; decorated with birds; several drawers and an internal mirror. Dimensions: 41 x 30.5 cm
Wood
Early 19th C. Edo Period Charred Cedar Tansu/Chest Of Drawers
Located in London, GB
A five drawer early Meiji period cedar tansu cabinet/chest of drawers. A beautiful and very practical piece of furniture. Heavily patinated through years of use with original iron ...
Iron
Small French Chest of Drawers, Lacquered with Chinese-inspired Motifs, Louis XV Style
Located in Pistoia, IT
Small lacquered "sauteuse" chest of drawers in the Louis XV style from the Napoleon III period, France, second half of the 19th century. The piece is entirely finished with a glossy...
Wood
Meiji Period Tansu/Chest Of Drawers
Located in London, GB
A three drawer cedar Meiji period Japanese chest of drawers. Unusually large drawers for a piece of Japanese furniture of this time period. Nicely patinated with original forged ir...
Cedar
$4,035Sale Price|25% Off
Primitive Charred Edo Period Tansu/Chest Of Drawers Wabi Sabi
Located in London, GB
A 5 drawer charred cedar & elm Japanese tansu from the early 19th C. Both a beautiful & very practical piece of furniture. Heavy patinated through years of use with origina...
Cedar
$5,388Sale Price|30% Off
A Large Early 19th C. Late Edo Period Tansu Cabinet/Chest Of Drawers Wabi Wabi
Located in London, GB
An eight drawer early Meiji period cedar tansu cabinet/chest of drawers. A beautiful and very practical piece of furniture. Heavily patinated through years of use with original iro...
Iron
Pair of Four Drawer Painted Mahogany Chests Designed by David Rosen for NK
By David Rosén
Located in New York, NY
A pair of four drawer painted mahogany chest circa 1940s designed by David Rosen for Nordiska Kompaniet (NK). Nordiska Kompaniet, started in 1890, is a manufacturing company that has...
Mahogany
19th Century French Lacquered Petite Chest with Exquisite Chinoiserie Decoration
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Louis XV-style antique black-lacquered petite commode or bedside table, having a shaped top with gilt bronze border, over three-stacked drawers flanked by bronze Rococo mounts, raise...
Bronze
Kuramata Side 1 Furniture in Irregular Form 1989
By Shiro Kuramata
Located in London, GB
A Kuramata side 1 eighteen drawers cabinet in cherrywood. Shiro Kuramata was a Japanese designer from 1965 when he founded the Kuramata Design Office in Tokyo until he died in 1991...
Wool
Early Meiji Keyaki Sendai Isho-Dansu Chest with Iron Hardware and Storage
Located in Yonkers, NY
An early Meiji period Sendai Isho-dansi chest from circa 1860-1880 with eight drawers, petite door and dark patina. This early Meiji-period Sendai Isho-dansu is a striking example of...
Iron
$2,520Sale Price|83% Off
17th Century, William and Mary Chinoiserie Trunk on Stand
Located in Nashville, TN
Featured is an extremely rare 17th century Dutch William & Mary Chinoiserie style coffer trunk on stand. This gorgeous piece was constructed of oak in the traditional William and Mar...
Oak
$11,995Sale Price / set|50% Off
Pair of Large Early 19th Century Chinoiserie Decorated Lacquer Chests from Paris
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
Never in the 35+ years that we’ve been in business have we ever had anything like these rare matched chests. From Paris, this incredible pair of early 19th Century (C.1800) are in ex...
Brass
Christie's, French and Company Magnificent French and English Furniture 11/1998
Located in valatie, NY
Includes: The Rothschild 'Palmes Et Fleurs' Cressent commode, the Balfour desk, Japanese Laquer commodes, Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted commode by J.
Paper
Shopping for a commode or a chest of drawers?
Commode is the French term for a low chest of drawers, but it is also sometimes used to denote any case piece with a particularly intricate design. The commode dates to circa 1700 France, where it was used as an alternative to a taller cabinet piece so as to not obscure paneled, mirrored or tapestried walls. Coffers, or chests, which were large wooden boxes with hinged lids and sometimes stood on ball feet, preceded chests of drawers, a fashionable cabinet furnishing that garnered acclaim for its obvious storage potential and versatility. The term commode was also used to refer to a piece of bedroom furniture — a washstand or nightstand that contained a chamber pot.
As time passed, French and British furniture makers led the way in the production of chests of drawers, and features like the integration of bronze and ornamental pulls became commonplace. Antique French commodes in the Louis XV style were sometimes crafted in mahogany or walnut, while an Italian marble top added a sophisticated decorative flourish. This specific type of case piece grew in popularity in the years that followed.
So, what makes a chest of drawers different from a common dresser? Dressers are short, and chests of drawers are overall taller pieces of furniture that typically do not have room on the top for a mirror as most dressers do. Tallboys and highboys are variations of the dresser form. Some chests of drawers have one column of four to six long drawers or three long drawers in their bottom section that are topped by a cluster of small side-by-side drawers on the top. To further complicate things, we sometimes refer to particularly short chests of drawers as nightstands.
Even though chests of drawers are commonly thought of as bedroom furniture to store clothing, these are adaptable pieces. A chest of drawers can house important documents — think of your walnut Art Deco commode as an upgrade to your filing cabinet. Nestle your chest near your home’s front door to store coats and other outerwear, while the top can be a place to drop your handbag. Add some flair to your kitchen, where this lovable case piece can hold pots, pans and even cookbooks.
When shopping for the right chest of drawers for your home, there are a few key things to consider: What will you be storing in it? How big a chest will you need?
Speaking of size, don’t dream too big. If your space is on the smaller side, a more streamlined vintage mid-century modern chest of drawers, perhaps one designed by Paul McCobb or T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, may best suit your needs.
At 1stDibs, we make it easy to add style and storage to your home. Browse our collection of antique and vintage commodes and chests of drawers today.
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