Edo Decorative Boxes
EDO STYLE
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.
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Style: Edo
Japanese Antique Buddhist Shrine Box "Zushi", Edo Period '1603-1868'
Located in Hitachiomiya-shi, 08
This antique Buddhist shrine box was crafted in the Edo Period (1603-1868).
Known in Japan as a “Zushi,” it served as a small sanctuary to enshrine Buddhist figures, scriptures, or ...
Category
Mid-17th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Cedar
Japanese Lacquer Chest, Edo Period
Located in Greding, DE
Small rectangular Japanese chest with gold lacquer decoration in the form of leaf tendrils. The chest is decorated with cut-out and ornamentally engraved fittings on the corners and ...
Category
18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Brass
Japanese 18th Century Tsukinami-e 6 Panel Floor Screen, Edo Period
Located in Norton, MA
A Japanese 18th Century Tsukinami-e 6 Panel Floor Screen depicts the Activities of the Twelve Months of the Year, mineral pigments on gold leaf, mounted on wood panels with 6 frames...
Category
18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold Leaf
Japanese Lacquer Incense Box, Kogo, Momoyama or Edo Period, 16th/17th Century
Located in Austin, TX
A wonderful Japanese lacquer incense box, kogo, with a design of plovers in flight, late Momoyama or early Edo Period, circa 1600, Japan.
The small box, called a kogo, was used to s...
Category
Early 17th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold, Pewter
Japanese Lacquered and Gold Leaf Storage Trunk (Nagamochi)
Located in CA, CA
A fine lacquered and gold leaf Nagamochi dating from the late 18th century or early 19th century.
The exterior of the trunk and its gilded metal fittings are decorated with a folia...
Category
Late 18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold Leaf
Antique Japanese Lacquer and Inlay Table from Ryukyu Islands
Located in Atlanta, GA
A small square-form table with lacquer and intricate mother-of-pearl inlay design from Ryukyu Islands kingdom circa 17-18th century. Ryukyuan kingdom was used to be an independent is...
Category
18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl, Lacquer
Antique Japanese Lacquer and Inlay Kang Table from Ryukyu Island
Located in Atlanta, GA
A small low table with lacquer and intricate mother-of-pearl inlay design from Ryukyu Islands kingdom circa 17-18th century. Ryukyuan kingdom was used to be an independent island cou...
Category
18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl, Lacquer
1920s Large Japanese Maki-E Lacquer Box With Creeping Wood Sorrel Mon Crest
Located in Sheridan, CO
Large Japanese Maki-E Lacquer Box With Creepy Woodsorrel Mon or Kamon.
Circa 1920s, black exterior ground various mixed color mon of the Tokugawa Shogunate, silvered metal rim on the...
Category
1920s Japanese Vintage Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold Leaf
Japanese Momoyama Period Black Lacquer and Mother of Pearl Box, 16th Century
Located in Austin, TX
A fine and unusual Japanese black lacquer and mother of pearl inlaid box, Momoyama Period, 16th century, Japan.
The large box and cover featu...
Category
16th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Lacquer, Abalone
Antique Japanese Ink Stone Maki-e Lacquer Box Suzuribako Edo Provenance
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Japanese ink stone box (known as Suzuribako) with exquisite maki-e decoration from Edo period (circa mid-18th century). The box features a rectang...
Category
18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood, Lacquer
A Japanese Edo Period Lacquer Kogo (Incense) Box, late 17/early 18th Century
Located in Spencertown, NY
Early Japanese Lacquer Incense Box (Kogo) Late 17thc. Of rectangular form with soft corners, decorated with a diaper pattern in gold lacquer on a brownish black ground, with pewter r...
Category
17th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Pewter
Antique Japanese Lacquered Incense Box Kobako in Kodaiji Style
Located in Atlanta, GA
An antique lacquered small box that was likely used to contain incense powder (it is called Kobako in Japanese), circa early to mid-19th century of the Edo...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood, Lacquer
Japanese Edo Period Igarashi School Long Lacquer Box, Tanzaku-Bako
Located in Austin, TX
A stunning Japanese Edo period lacquer tanzakubako, box for poem cards, late 18th-early 19th century, Edo Period, Japan.
Attributed to the Igarashi School, this box is masterfully ...
Category
Early 19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl, Lacquer
Gold Lacquer Incense Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
A Gold Lacquer Kōbako (Incense Box)
Edo Period (1615–1868), Circa 1850
This exquisite gold lacquer kōbako (incense box) exemplifies the refined craftsmans...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold, Silver, Gold Leaf
$9,850
Japanese Lacquer Maki-E Scroll Box Fubako by Kansonsai Edo Period
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Japanese lacquered wood fubako (a box to store document or small scroll painting) circa late 18th century of Edo period. The rectangular box features a deep lid with rounded corners and recessed mid-edge and a lower box with two bronze medallion rings and tasseled silk ties. The surface of the fubako was elaborately decorated with hiramaki-e and a low takamaki-e on a mottled Mura-nashiji background. The motifs on the lid depict branches of Japanese pine with finely rendered needles on the lower part; on the upper part, it showcases fruited persimmon branches. Two different shades of gold fundame were used to contrast the design and augmented by scattered gold kirigane to highlight some of the leaves. The design continues and cascades down to all sides of the lid as well as the walls of the box. The two bronze medallions appear original to the box and the silk ties show significant fading from the age. This Fine fubako is signed on the lower wall "Kanshosai" in Kanji with a kao mark. All the trims were finished in gold fundame and the interiors a dense nashiji in gold.
Kanshosai is the mark of the distinguished lacquer artist Lizuka Toyo I who also signed his work "Toyosai". He was active in the second half of the 18th century during Edo period, employed by Hachisuka Shigeyoshi (1738-1801), daimyo of Awa on Shikoku Island. Although most survived work bearing his marks are inros, he was also known to decorated trays and other larger objects...
Category
Late 18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood, Lacquer
Exquisite Japanese Lacquer Maki-e Hand Box Kobako Edo Period
Located in Atlanta, GA
An early Japanese lacquer Maki-e decorated kobako (small storage box) circa 18th century (Edo period). Based on its form and size, this kobako was possibly used as a Chabako to store the accoutrements for chado (tea ceremony). The lidded box is of rectangular form with bevel design on all edge that softens the appearance. The entire surface was densely covered with a background of nashiji. Elaborate Maki-e techniques were used on each side to showcase a distinct landscape or floral design within a cartouche panel. On the surface of the lid, a mountainous landscape rises from the edge of the water. The poetic composition is akin to a traditional ink scroll...
Category
18th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Lacquer
Edo-Period Lacquerware Chest
Located in New Orleans, LA
Edo-Period Lacquerware Chest
19th-century
This exquisite chest, inspired by Hasami-Bako travel trunks, is a striking example of Japanese lacquerware. The hiramaki-e technique—applie...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Gold
Japanese Black Lacquer Jubako Box with Stork Motif
Located in Stamford, CT
A four-tier Japanese Meiji period black lacquer Jubako box with stork and fir tree decoration. Box in four sections with lid.
Category
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Lacquer
Japanese Nagasaki Export Lacquer Box with Depiction of the 'Trippenhuis'
Located in Amsterdam, NL
A Japanese Nagasaki export lacquer box with mother-of-pearl depiction of the Amsterdam ‘Trippenhuis’
Edo-period, circa 1830
H. 12.5 x W. 24...
Category
19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl, Lacquer
Japanese Gilt Tabako-Bon with Mountain Landscape, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
This lacquered box is a Japanese tabako-bon, or 'tobacco tray,' used to store tobacco and smoking accessories. Believed to have evolved from the tradition...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Copper
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H 15.75 in W 14.25 in D 7 in
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Located in Ottawa, Ontario
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Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
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H 18.71 in W 6.89 in D 5.63 in
Previously Available Items
Late Edo Period Wabi Sabi Japanese Box with Small Drawer
Located in London, GB
A beautifully worn late Edo period chestnut & cedar storage box with small drawer.
Perfect as a stand or storage or both!
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19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
Materials
Chestnut, Cedar
Antique Japanese Lacquered Incense Box Kobako
Located in Atlanta, GA
An old lacquered small box that was likely used to contain incense powder (it is called Kobako), circa Momoyama to early Edo period (17th century). The square form box with a fitted ...
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17th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
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Wood, Lacquer
Japanese Iron Bound Sea Chest, c. 1800
Located in Chicago, IL
This fantastic iron-bound lock box is a 19th-century Japanese sea chest known as kakesuzuri. Used on merchant vessels traveling the Japanese trade route known as Kitamae, sea chests ...
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Early 19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
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Japanese Black Antique Wooden Box / Wabi-Sabi Storage Box / 1785 / Edo Period
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
This is a storage box made in 1785 during the Edo period in Japan.
The year of production is printed in ink on the back of the lid.
Probably the box that contained lacquer ware.
...
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H 11.97 in W 12.52 in D 12.52 in
19th Century Japanese Hokkai, Lacquered Decorative Box in Gold and Black
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Edo period Hokkai, lacquered and painted box. Beautifully painted gold flowers painted o lacquer. Rope can be removed. Brass over copper intricately hammered d...
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Japanese Antique Paper-Covered Box 1800s-1860s/Edo Period Wabisabi Art mingei
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
It is a box covered with old Japanese paper.
It is an item from the Edo period. (1800s-1860s)
A box made of bamboo is covered with paper.
The beautiful picture of the bird is sy...
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Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
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Bamboo, Paper
H 4.73 in W 10.24 in D 16.15 in
Japanese Antique Sword Case 1760s-1860s/Exhibition Stand Box Wabisabi Art
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
It was a wooden box for storing Japanese swords.
It is an item from the Edo period. (1760-1860s)
It is covered with paper.
It seems to protect it from moisture.
Paper tears o...
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Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Edo Decorative Boxes
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Cedar
H 5.32 in W 5.32 in D 38.39 in
Small Japanese Lacquer and Metal Mounted Hokkai, Edo Period, 19th Century, Japan
Located in Austin, TX
A charming Japanese black and green lacquer hokkai, picnic box, with copper and gilt copper mounts, Edo Period, early 19th century, Japan.
The small hokkai of square shape and su...
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Copper
H 10.75 in W 12.5 in L 10.75 in
1800s-1900s Edo Period Japanese Antique Box Folk Art Wabi Sabi
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
It is a box of goods found in a Japanese private house.
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H 4 in W 6.75 in D 8.75 in
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Black lacquer Japanese ink stone box in presentation case decorated with gold mons, late 18th-early 19th century Edo period.
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Edo decorative boxes for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Edo decorative boxes for sale on 1stDibs. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee.