Edo furniture was created during a flourishing time for the decorative arts owing to the stability of the Tokugawa shogunate rule in Japan. Spanning from 1603 to 1867, this era of peace and economic growth supported artistic advancements in lacquer, woodblock printing, porcelain and other artisanal trades. Because the country was largely isolated, there was little outside influence, leading to centuries of exceptional attention to the design of its furnishings and the quality of its traditional arts.
Unlike during the Meiji period that followed, with an increase in domestic and international markets, furniture during the Edo period was predominately commissioned by the ruling class, although people from across social groups benefited from the burgeoning metropolitan hubs for artisanal trades. For instance, Kyoto became a major center for lacquer art. Most furniture pieces were made from wood such as cedar or ash, including the era’s sashimono cabinets, which involved fine joinery and were rooted in the Heian period.
Sashimono cabinets, which were built by master craftsmen in a range of different wood types owing to the various trees that populate Japan, occasionally featured a stack of slender drawers as well as sliding doors. They were popular with everyone from samurai to kabuki actors. Tansu storage chests crafted from wood with metal fittings were also common in Edo-period homes. Some were designed to be easily portable while others were made to double as staircases.
Painted folding screens, called byōbu, were also fashionable, with Japanese artists inspired by nature, literature and scenes of history and daily life to create vivid works. In Buddhist temples and the palatial homes of the aristocratic class, fusuma, or large sliding panels, would sometimes be adorned with gold or silver leaf. These dividers allowed interiors to change throughout the day, closing in small spaces for personal use or reflecting candlelight to illuminate communal spaces after dark.
Find a collection of Edo tables, lighting, decorative objects, wall decorations and more furniture on 1stDibs.
Fine Japanese Split Bamboo Flower Gathering Basket for Ikebana
Located in Bridgeport, CT
A well crafted and elegant Japanese Flower Gathering Basket crafted from split and wound Bamboo in a fine deep stain. With a joined double ring handle and upturned oval basket. Signe...
Bamboo
Japanese ikebana bamboo basket - Showa, 20th
Located in PARIS, FR
Ikebana basket (hanakago) made of dark brown varnished bamboo wickerwork rounded shape with a twisted handle. Ikebana or Ka-do (the way of flowers) is a traditional Japanese art of...
Bamboo, Wicker, Wood
Japanese Flat Ikebana Basket, Bamboo, Suruga Sensuji Style
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Vintage bamboo Ikebana basket features an elongated, flattened form with prominent rounded handle. The basket is woven of thin round bamboo strips that are secured with transparent ...
Bamboo, Wicker, Rattan
$730
H 11.23 in Dm 5.12 in
Japanese Small Bamboo Ikebana Basket for Ikebana– Handwoven, Early 20th Century
Located in Fukuoka, JP
A beautifully handwoven Japanese bamboo basket, crafted in the early 20th century for use in ikebana (the art of flower arranging). This tall, narrow form with a rounded rim and twis...
Bamboo
Vintage Japanese Susutake Bamboo Ikebana Basket Wagumi Style
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
The vintage Ikebana basket, or hanakago, features a graphic, but restrained wickerwork in susutake, dark brown smoked bamboo. The low, rounded shape is accentuated by the distributio...
Bamboo, Wicker, Rattan
Antique Hanging Boat Ikebana Basket, Bamboo, Japanese
Located in Point Richmond, CA
Boat shaped Ikebana basket, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Made of bamboo with copper insert, signature of maker. This one of a kind ikebana basket features an irregular wea...
Bamboo
Japanese Wagumi Handled Bamboo Basket Ikebana
Located in Atlanta, GA
Bold, rustic and with an earthy free spirit, this wagumi style flower basket with twisted handle (ikebana) was designed and woven to evoke a sense of serenity and humbleness during t...
Bamboo
$4,551
H 21.26 in W 29.93 in D 28.35 in
Massive and exceptional Japanese bamboo hanakago 花籠 (ikebana flower basket)
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A massive and exceptional bamboo hanakago (ikebana flower basket). The unusual and modernist basket with a loop handle and showing fine wickerwork in thick strips of bamboo of a ligh...
Bamboo
Japanese Susutake Bamboo Ikebana Basket with Textured Handle
Located in Clifton Springs, NY
Vintage ikebana basket, or hanakago, features complex weave on the body and rounded handle with textured elements. The body is plaited of darkened with smoke brown bamboo fibers in c...
Bamboo, Wicker, Rattan
Japanese Ikebana or hanakago flower basket in bamboo
Located in PARIS, FR
Dark brown bamboo ikebana basket with twisted handle. The breading of the wickerwork is very intricate and complex and suggests a meditative state on human work and bond to nature. I...
Bamboo
Japanese Bamboo Ikebana Basket by Yamamoto Chikuryosai I Shoen
Located in Atlanta, GA
An important Japanese bamboo Ikebana basket by Yamamoto Chikuryosai I (also known as Chikuryusai I, Shoen after 1929) (1868-1945). Active in Osaka, Kansai region, he was advised by Wada Waichisai I. After 1929, he signed his work as Shoen (Shoen made this), such as this one. This basket was made using "sooted" bamboo (susutake in Japanese). This bamboo materials was collected from traditional thatched-roof houses that had been exposed to decades of smoke from a hearth or cooking fire, therefore the basket displays a deep rich patina that is hard to attain by color-lacquering. The basket featured a large rounded barrel form with handle. The body was constructed with a twill plaiting variation of a more relaxed and loose weave. It allows the light coming through to render the piece a lighter sense. Parallel plaiting was used to reinforce the body with stripes of bamboo, while adding more visual constrict to a free spirited background. Twisted bamboo strips form rope-like handle and the top rim. It is signed "Shoen Made This" on the base. Two-piece water container made from bamboo trunk is retained with the piece as shown. For the artists other and similar work, see baskets masterpieces of Japanese Bamboo Art...
Bamboo
Japanese Woven Bamboo Ikebana Basket
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Japanese woven bamboo basket with handle from early 20th century, circa end of Meiji to Taisho period. The basket was constructed in the form o...
Bamboo
Japanese Flower Arranging 'Ikebana' Basket
Located in Hudson, NY
Bamboo construction with twisted rope design. Artist signature reads: Chikubi-Sai (opening measures: 6 1/4" diameter).
Bamboo
Fine Mid 20th C. Japanese Bamboo Ikebana Basket
Located in Bridgeport, CT
A finely crafted split and stained bamboo handled Ikebana Basket with fine traditional form. The Basket with a strong weave in a mix of wider and slender elements creating a captivat...
Bamboo
Japanese Hokkai Lacquered Picnic Baskets
Located in New Orleans, LA
This remarkable pair of Edo-period lacquered Hokkai, or picnic baskets, was likely crafted for a prominent daimyo (lord) around 1780 during this time of great affluence. Reflecting a...
Gold, Copper
Sold
H 7.8 in W 7.09 in D 6.3 in
Very Rare Antique Baskets Woven with Paper Strings / Japan or Korea / Mingei
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
If you want something special, we recommend purchasing items selected by us. We sell items from all over the world, with a focus on carefully selected old Japanese items. I've seen...
Lacquer, Paper