Meiji Bronze Buddha
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Paintings and Screens
Bronze, Copper
Antique Mid-19th Century Japanese Japonisme Metalwork
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Wood
People Also Browsed
Antique Early 1800s Japanese Edo Sculptures and Carvings
Wood
20th Century Japanese Showa Planters and Jardinieres
Iron
Early 20th Century Japanese Folk Art Garden Ornaments
Stone
Early 20th Century Shaker Decorative Boxes
Bentwood, Paint
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Cedar
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Animal Sculptures
Metal
Mid-20th Century Japanese Japonisme Lanterns
Iron
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Cedar
Antique Early 1800s European George III Trunks and Luggage
Pine
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Edo Sculptures and Carvings
Cedar
Mid-20th Century Japanese Showa Sculptures and Carvings
Iron
Late 20th Century Japonisme Sculptures and Carvings
Ceramic, Fabric, Plastic
Antique 1890s Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Decorative Baskets
Bamboo
Vintage 1920s Danish Art Deco Planters, Cachepots and Jardinières
Metal
20th Century Chinese Natural Specimens
Stone
Recent Sales
Antique 19th Century Thai Meiji Antiquities
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Sculptures
Bronze
Antique 1890s Japanese Meiji Sculptures
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Antique 1890s Japanese Planters and Jardinieres
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Garden Ornaments
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Furniture
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Gold Leaf
20th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Sculptures and Carvings
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Paintings and Screens
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Multi-gemstone, Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Sculptures
Bronze
A Close Look at meiji Furniture
From 1868 to 1912, Emperor Mutsuhito oversaw an era of transformation in Japan. Formerly a country of feudalism and isolation, Japan entered an age of modernization influenced by newly established trade and exchange with the West. The Meiji period, or period of “enlightened rule,” also saw the global impact of the East Asian country’s culture. Japanese Meiji furniture was exhibited at expositions from Paris to San Francisco and created for export.
Prior to the Meiji era, furniture was mostly made by commission for the ruling class; now there were new domestic and international markets. European styles like Japonisme appropriated Japanese design while craftsmen in places like Wales and England employed japanning, a varnishing technique that approximated the appearance of lacquer for the surfaces of furnishings.
Meiji furniture made for Japanese homes and buildings constructed in Western styles resulted in taller tables, chairs, cabinets with large drawers and other features. The government invested in areas such as transportation and communication, and because people could freely choose occupations after the restrictions of feudalism, industries of various types were energized by expressive new ideas during those years. Art schools were formed and, for the first time, design was an area of study in the country, leading to the evolution of professional design as a career by the 1890s.
The work of Japanese designers was transmitted widely through lavishly illustrated pattern books that included designs for screens and lacquerware for the home. While screens today may be of use as decorative accents or partitions to ensure privacy in one’s space, Japanese screens were adorned with paintings and were featured in performing arts such as concerts, tea ceremonies and more. The color illustrations that characterize Meiji woodblock prints, a genre of Japanese art that grew out of 17th-century developments in printing and book publishing, depicted the sweeping changes that the era brought to East Asia.
Although it was a time of societal and cultural shifts, a bolstered interest in art and design elevated Japanese craft traditions. From colorful porcelain table lamps with silk shades and hardwood tables decorated with dark lacquer to cabinets featuring iron hardware and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, Meiji furniture showcased Japan’s artistic heritage to the world.
Find a collection of antique Japanese Meiji period case pieces and storage cabinets, decorative objects, wall decorations and more furniture on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Asian Art and Furniture for You
From Japanese handmade earthenware pottery, originating circa 14,500 B.C. and adorned with elaborate corded patterns known as jōmon, to natural elm case pieces and storage cabinets built in Qing dynasty–era China to mid-century Thai rice-paper charcoal rubbings, antique and vintage Asian art and furniture make for wonderful additions to all kinds of contemporary interiors.
Eastern elements elevate any home’s decor. Introduce zen sensibility to your living room, dining room and bedroom with the neutral color palettes and the natural materials such as rattan, bamboo and elm that we typically associate with traditional Asian furniture. Decorative handwoven embroideries and textiles originating from India and elsewhere on the continent, which can be draped over a bed or sofa or used as a wall hanging, can be as practical as they are functional, just as you wouldn’t seek out Japanese room-divider screens — often decorated with paintings but constructed to be lightweight and mobile — merely for privacy.
With everything from blanket chests to lighting fixtures to sculptures and carvings, it’s easy to tastefully bring serenity to your living space by looking to the treasures for which the East has long been known.
For British-born furniture designer Andrianna Shamaris, the Japanese concept of beauty in imperfection isn’t limited to her Wabi Sabi collection. She embraces it in her New York City apartment as well. In the living area, for instance, she retained the fireplace’s original black marble while swathing its frame and the rest of the room in bright white.
“We left the fireplace very clean and wabi-sabi, so that it blended into the wall,” says Shamaris, who further appointed the space with a hand-carved antique daybed whose plush pillows are upholstered in antique textiles from the Indonesian island of Sumba.
In the growing antique and vintage Asian art and furniture collection on 1stDibs, find ceramics from China, antiquities from Cambodia and a vast range of tables, seating, dining chairs and other items from Japan, India and other countries.