Edo Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

This is an antique Japanese chest of drawers. It features a simple design with only carved handles. It is a very old chest of drawers, and while it remains largely in its original c...

This Japanese antique mizuya cabinet was crafted during the early years of the Bunsei era (1818–1830) in the late Edo period, making it approximately 200 years old. Measuring 33.9” W...

This is an antique Japanese Tansu. Judging by the condition of the metal parts, it appears to be quite old, likely dating to the Edo period. It has been carefully maintained to pres...

Japanese antique mid-size apothecary chest, tansu chest of drawers for medicines (Kusuri dansu). Product of late Edo to early Meiji era (1850s-1890s), estimate from the style & ...

This Japanese apothecary chest (tansu) dates to the first year of Kaei (1848), late Edo period. The date is recorded internally in brush-written ink, providing direct historical evid...

Mid size apothecary chest, medicine chest of drawers - "Kusuri dansu" in Japanese - product of late Edo era (1780s-1868), estimate from the style & conditions. The outer structu...

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 &...

This antique small chest of drawers was crafted in the Keio Era (1867). Made from Japanese cedar and finished with traditional Japanese lacquer (urushi), the surface has developed a...

19th c. Kuruma tansu - cabinet on wheels. These were used to store belongings and the wheels made them easy to move outside during house fires, which were...

This is an old, large, Japanese-made Kuruma-Tansu. Made in the Edo period (1800s-1860s), it is a powerful and dignified piece, the culmination of the skills and aesthetic sense of th...

Incredible example of Asian lacquer carving. Standing over seven feet tall, this monumental display shelf was produced in Japan at the end of the Ed...

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 Originally made as tool chest or medicine chest, made of thick, fine grade reddish Sugi cedar.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...

New finds from the Kominka (old traditional house) owned by an old-established family in Nagano prefecture, Japan. This 2-tier large Mizuya tansu (Kitchen chest) is the product of m...

Japanese antique large cabinet, tansu chest of drawers in the vein of Kusuri dansu (Medicine / apothecary chest). Product of late Edo to early Meiji era (1850s-1890s), estimate from ...

It is an old Japanese drawer. It is an item from the Edo period (1800s-1860s). It has a keyed door so that it can also be used as a safe. Both metal fittings are attached with very ...

From Kanto or Tohoku area, Japan. This mid-size, black Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers is a product of late Edo to early Meiji era (circa 1860s-1880s) , estimate from the st...

Mid size apothecary chest, medicine chest of drawers - "Kusuri dansu" in Japanese - product of late Edo era (1780s-1868), estimate from the style & conditions. Pieces of old pape...

An Extremely Fine and Very Important 17th Century Japanese Lacquer Cabinet on French Giltwood Stand of Regence Period circa 1680-1690 Provenance Likely acquired by Herman Willem ...

New finds from old Kura (traditional style warehouse) in Kanto area, Japan. A pair of 2 different size box chest of drawers, in the vein of Medicine chest "Kusuri dansu" in Japanese - one of Tansu furnitures...

This is a piece of storage furniture called a "kurumanagamochi," a traditional Japanese piece of furniture. Crafted from pine and cedar, it was originally used in the Tohoku region....

From Tohoku area, Japan. This mid-size, black Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers is a product of late Edo to early Meiji era (circa 1860s-1880s) , estimate from the style & con...

Exceptionally large and rare lacquer cabinet. According to the heraldry, visible on the headgear in one of the panels, it was made for the Inaba family, a high ranking Daimyo family,...

An extremely fine, elegant and rare late 17th Century Japanese lacquer cabinet, from the Eco period, on later lacquered black stand. Japanese circa 1690 Provenance A private Scottish collection This outstanding cabinet is a fascinating fusion of east and west. The cabinet itself would have been made in Japan, c.1690, and is decorated to the outside with hiramaki-e lacquer. This technique involves the use of sprinkled gold powder which adheres to the lacquer surface. On the best pieces, as with this example, many layers are added in order to create areas of high relief and give depth to the surface decoration. The taste of the Japanese workshops in this period was often for quite restrained pieces with plenty of the black background visible, unlike some of the busier Chinese lacquer or European japanned examples produced around the same time. The Japanese makers seemed content to rely on the outstanding quality of the lacquer itself, regarded by most experts as the finest lacquer ever produced, and did not see the need to cover every surface believing that less was more in this respect. The lacquer here is used to produce a mountainous scene with buildings on the bank of a river, the other side of the river with more buildings and a contrasting flatter and forested landscape. The fine perspective achieved is the result of the clever use of raised and flatter areas in the lacquer itself in combination with the drawing of the design itself. Another remarkable aspect of this piece is the fine metalware throughout, but particularly the lockplate / hasp, hinges and foot mounts to the front. This is all beautifully cast and engraved contrasting against the black background. Interestingly another cabinet on stand with near identical metalwork was advertised in the Burlington Magazine, November 1913, with the dealer W. Williamson and Sons of Guildford. The lacquer on that piece is similarly refined and it seems likely that both pieces came from the same workshop. The European influence in our piece can be seen in both the later ebonised stand and in the japanned decoration which has been applied to the inside of the doors and is also very fine indeed. This consists of two panels with birds of prey perched on branches in colours set against a golden background. The cabinet has a recent Scottish provenance and so it is likely that the ebonised stand was made in Britain though such pieces were made throughout Europe as a way of quite literally elevating these imported pieces of eastern lacquer as in Japan these would have been used on the floor. Inside the cabinet there is a combination of more Japanese lacquer and lock plates and European drawer handles. Most of the lacquer drawer fronts incorporate mountainous scenes and birds in combination, with a few purely one or the other of the two subjects. Again the lacquer is in excellent condition and is of exceptional quality with multiple layers of relief used in one single scene in many cases. As mentioned above, Japanese lacquer is the most technically brilliant of the eastern lacquers and, as such, was highly prized by collectors and connoisseurs throughout Europe when this piece was made. The acquisition of such pieces would only have been possible for a small group of incredibly wealthy individuals, largely royal or high ranking courtiers or merchants connected with the East India trade...

Japanese antique wooden cabinet box manufactured circa 1840s-1860s (late Edo period) estimate from the style & conditions. Made with traditional wood joinery without metal fastener....

This antique small chest of drawers was crafted in the Edo Era (Tenpō 1830-1844). The aged urushi (Japanese lacquer), worn away in places, enhances the piece’s unique character and ...

This is a Japanese black wooden storage box. It is probably from around the Edo period. It is one of the folk utensils mainly used in Japan in the early modern times, and it is a r...

Handsome antique Japanese Gyosho Bako Peddler's chest. Practical piece with incredible iron work which all moves very easily with no rust or resistance. Very well built and stable pi...

New finds from an farmer's Kura (traditional style warehouse) in Ibaraki pref., Japan. This mid-size, black Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers is a product of late Edo to early...

From Tohoku area, Japan. This mid-size, black Urushi lacquered Tansu chest of drawers is a product of late Edo to early Meiji era (circa 1860s-1880s) , estimate from the style & con...

A rare 17th-century oak and pine Urushi Nanban-style Japanese export chest, originally crafted for the Portuguese market, is a remarkable artifact. It features seventeen drawers and ...

This is an upper part of a an unusual 19th century Japanese cabinet using bamboo and burled wood as design accents on the two sliding do...

Cabinet by Ryosuke Harashima. Name: Casa Do Walk Collection: STILLIFE A chest for ship with a key door. With four legs that imitate a stilt building structure, it looks like a house that going to walk. STILLIFE STILLIFE is not to redesign old Japanese folk tools but also to have a dialogue with the tools. Morphing "old folk tools" into a "more attractive still life" by giving it a modern interpretation. "Tsukumo God" which we Japanese...

A rare Japanese export lacquered secretaire for the American market Circa 1800-1830, Colonial Overall densely decorated with flower sprays and landscapes, minutely inlaid with ...