Amsterdam - Furniture

Remarkable wooden Kantô kannon’biraki ishô’dansu (cabinet of drawers with hinged doors) in two sections equipped with striking iron hardware. Fully restored, cleaned and waxed. The drawer fronts are made from indigenous kiri (paulownia) wood, and the frame from Japanese hinoki...

A highly important Japanese export lacquer cabinet with depiction of the Dutch East India Company tradepost Deshima and the annual Dutch delegation on its way to the Shogun in Edo Edo period, circa 1660-1680 H. 88 x W. 100.5 x D. 54 cm This cabinet includes a later European japanned stand, but also a modern powder-coated steel frame. The latter can be designed and added to your specific needs. The sides and front of the rectangular two-door cabinet are embellished in gold and silver hiramaki-e and takamaki-e on a black roiro lacquer ground with a continuous design. The two doors depict a long procession of numerous figures travelling on foot and horseback along buildings and a pagoda into a mountainous landscape. This is the annual court journey, Hofreis, of the Dutch from Nagasaki to the Shogun’s court in Edo. Three horseback riders are dressed as Dutch merchants and a fourth figure, probably het Opperhoofd, is seen inside a palanquin, norimon. Just about to cross the bridge, two men are carrying a cabinet like the present one. Many Japanese figures on either side of the procession are engaged in various activities; some play musical instruments on board of small boats, others are fishing; figures inside buildings are depicted playing go, and farmers are tending to their rice paddocks. The upper part of the right door shows a large mansion, probably the local daimyo’s castle, with men kneeling before a man in the central courtyard. The court journey fits in with the foreign policy of the shogunate which accorded a role to the VOC alongside China, Korea, and the Ryukyu Islands who also had to pay tribute. However, the VOC employees were traders, having low status in Japan’s social hierarchy, and they were received with less deference than were the state embassies from Korea and the Ryukyu Islands. Nevertheless, the contacts with the Dutch were a welcome source of information to the Shogun about Europe and European science and technology. The left side of the cabinet depicts, in mirror image, a rare view of the artificial fan-shaped Deshima Island, the trading post for the Dutch in Japan. The island, where the Dutch flag flies, is surrounded by small Japanese boats and an anchored three-masted fluyt (cargo ship), flying Dutch flags, with on the stern the VOC monogram. On the bottom right a busy street of Nagasaki is shown, bordered by shops and leading up to the stone bridge. On the island the trees are beautifully painted, two cows can be seen, and the flagpole, all in very fine detail. Dutchmen and enslaved Malay are visible outside the buildings and two Japanese figures, probably guards, sit in a small hut in the centre. A maximum of fifteen to twenty Dutchmen lived on the island at any time and soldiers or women were not allowed. Restrictions on Deshima were tight, and the merchants were only allowed to leave the island by special permission. The Opperhoofd had to be replaced every year, and each new Opperhoofd had to make a court journey to pay tribute, present gifts, and to obtain permission to Margaret Barclay eep on trading. In the distance, many birds fly above the hills and a four-story pagoda can be seen. The right side of the cabinet is painted with other horse riders and their retinue journeying through mountains. The pair of doors to the front open to reveal ten rectangular drawers. The drawers are decorated with scenes of birds in flight and landscapes with trees and plants. The reverse of the left door with two thatched buildings, one with a ladder, underneath a camelia tree with large blooms; the right door with a three-story pagoda nestled among trees and both doors with a flying phoenix, ho-oo bird. The cabinet, with elaborately engraved gilt copper mounts, hinges, lock plates and brass handles, is raised on an 18th-century English japanned wood stand. A pair of large cabinets...

Probably Sri Lanka, 2nd half 17th century H. 55 x W. 40.5 x D. 40.5 cm Seat height 27.5 cm The chair is overall densely carved with a scrolling flower motif on four connected turne...

Rare and richly adorned wooden Kyûshû ishô'dansu (cabinet of drawers) in a single section, on a plinth. Fully restored, cleaned and waxed. The drawer faces are made of indigenous k...

Canton, 2nd half 19th century H. 22.5 x W. 30 x D. 12.5 cm The pocket watch, an antique Swiss triple calendar Moon phace pocket watch in gunmetal case, dating from around 1860-1900...

Unique and beautiful round wooden chadansu 茶箪笥 (tea cabinet) made of a hollow tree trunk. Placed on a lovely organically formed three root. The exterior of the display cabinet has a...

Apart from being a highly decorative object and a status symbol, these miniature pieces of furniture also functioned as collector’s items. Just like the dollhouses were for rich wome...

A Japanese Cypresswood or hirohi ‘Walsh, Hall & Co, Yokohama’ tea chest Yokohama, 1862-1897, with inscription reading: Choicest Natural Leaf Yamashiro Tea, Packed by Walsh, Hall & Co, Yokohama Measures: H. 53.5 x W. 61.5 x D. 41.5 cm Including original wood box The chest gold, silver and red lacquered on a black lacquer ground, the top decorated with an eagle sitting on a branch, looking at a small escaping bird, the front with a pheasant under a chestnut, one side with a cockerel amongst foliage, the back decorated with an argus pheasant...

High-quality Sado wooden ishô’dansu (cabinet of drawers) in two sections. Heavily clad with decorative iron hardware featuring rich designs, and a little secret. Fully restored, cleaned and waxed. The drawer faces made from solid indigenous cedar (sugi) wood. Finished with a deep dark red lacquer with a great patina. The upper part is configured with two large drawers, and the bottom with four drawers of different sizes and a hinged door. Opening to three more small drawers. Behind these drawers lies a concealed storage compartment. As illustrated in the photos, the small drawer on the right is slightly shorter. Behind it is the hidden storage space, accessible only by removing the left drawer since the opening extends all the way to the back on that side. Each lock plate of the cabinet has its own refined reticulated design, showcasing; a pair of elder figures tending a pine tree (matsu) when the sun is rising on the horizon; two of the Seven Gods of Fortune...

Amazing wooden Gifu chôba’dansu (merchant's document cabinet) with sturdy iron hardware and a well-hidden secret compartment. Fully restored, cleaned and w...

Exceptional, rare and completely restored wooden Sado ishô dansu (cabinet of drawers) with elaborately decorated open work iron hardware, in two sections. Fully restored, cleaned and waxed. The exterior is made of hinoki cypress wood. Only slightly varnished, giving it a tad warmer colour. This soft underground lets the refined hardware stand out even more. The upper part consists of two large drawers. The lower part with two drawers of different size and a hinged door. The interior behind the door with three small drawers. All the drawers are very deep and have a lot of volume, for easy storage. They run very smoothly as well. The cabinet has extensively decorated hardware. The corner pieces of the drawers with stylized pine trees. The large decorative lock plates each with their own unique design of different auspicious animals; a peacock, a phoenix, a crane and a minogame. The hinged door decorated with different attributes of the Seven Gods of Fortune...

A Dutch-colonial Sri Lankan coromandel wood miniature chest of drawers with silver mounts Sri Lanka, 18th century, circa 1750 H. 35 x W. 48 x D....

An extremely rare, possibly unique, Chinese export lacquer bureau for the Dutch market Canton, circa 1737 H. 118 x W. 102.5 x D. 63 cm Provenance: - Private collection, The Netherlands - J.K. Driessen Antiques, Arnhem (Art Fair Breda, 1989) - Noble collection, Belgium Literature: - C.J.A. Jörg, ’De handel van de V.O.C. in Oosters lakwerk in de 18de eeuw’ in: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek , Jr. 31 (1980), pp. 355-363 (ill.) - Annigje Hofstede, Nederlandse meubelen van Barok tot Biedermeier, 1700-1830, Waanders, Zwolle 2004, pp. 35-37 (ill.) This lacquer bureau is one of the four writing desks purchased in Canton in 1737, and as far as is known, this is the only remaining bureau of its type from the period. As the VOC believed that large pieces of import took up too much valuable space in their trading ships...

A Dutch-colonial Sri Lankan coromandel wood document box with silver mounts Probably Galle, 18th century H. 19 x W. 49 x D. 33 cm The ches...

A Dutch-colonial Indonesian small Albizia adoratissima, Nangka and Ambalo wood Lady’s tambour bureau with silver mounts Batavia (Jakarta) or Palembang, late 18th century H. 129.5 x W. 70 x D. 39 cm The tambour desk or bureau a` cilindre came into fashion in the Dutch East Indies of the late 18th century, when French forms prevailed in the Netherlands. The carvings on the apron and the stiles on the sides and at the top of the central stile are typical Indonesian designs. This small piece of furniture is not a miniature but was probably used as a regular bureau-cabinet by colonial society women of Indonesian-European descent. They usually are smaller than European women and often didn’t use chairs but sat or kneeled, and even slept on the floor for coolness. Earlier that century Dutch-colonial Indonesian and Cape Dutch...

Everyday functional art handmade, customised design Say ‘Au Revoir’ to the expected, and a big hello to Diego Faivre’s Minute Manufacture designs. Offering an intimate insight into the design process, Diego Faivre’s Minute Manufacture serves as a creative homage to the idiom “time is money...

A Portuguese-colonial Japanese Namban lacquer vargueno cabinet Momoyama period, circa 1600 H. 43 x W. 64.5 x D. 36 cm Wood, black lacquered and deco...

A pair of lacquered wood northern Chinese yoke-back chairs, Guan mao shi Hebei Province, Qing Dynasty, early 18th century Measures: H. 99.5 x W. 61 x D. 49 cm ?The back spla...

A Peranakan djati wood miniature bed for an Anak Ambar, a miscarried fetus Indonesia, Peranakan Chinese, late 19th century Measures: H. 41 x L...

A Chinese Huanghuali document box with baitong mounts Late Ming/Early Qing dynasty, 17th/18th century H. 6 x W. 34.8 x D. 17.5 cm Proven...

A fine Japanese pictoral style lacquer cabinet with gilt-metal mounts Kyoto, Edo period, 1670-1690 Decorated in Japanese relief lacquer work, black lacquer ground decorated...

A Sri Lankan mãrã or East Indian walnut ‘Burgomaster’ chair Galle, early 19th century Measures: H. 81.5 x W. 74 cm / seat height 45.5 cm / seat di...

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 ...

An Indonesian Javanese rosewood (sono keeling) four chair-back settee Java, probably Jakarta (Batavia), late 17th century The massive bench on ten turned connected legs, with four back-splats with cane. Measures: H. 108 x W. 216 x D. 71 cm Seat height approx. 48 cm Note: Batavian chairs and settees of this type were based on the medallion caneback chairs...

A Vizagapatam pen-engraved veneered sandalwood portable writing desk with silver mounts India, Coromandel coast, Visakhapatnam, circa 1875 ...

AN INDONESIAN TEAK WOOD ROUND-BACK CHAIR Indonesia/Jakarta (Batavia), late 18th century The wood elegantly carved and curved, the round-back and seating with cane. H. 87 x W. 61 cm Seat height 42.5 cm Note: Round back chairs, starting with the burgomaster chairs...

A fine small Indonesian, possibly Ambonese, Djati wood bench First half of the 18th century The back splat elaborately carved in scrolling foliate and floral motif, the plain, ...

An Indonesian teak wood round-back chair Indonesia/Jakarta (Batavia), late 18th century The wood elegantly carved and curved, the round-back and seating with cane. Measures: H. 87 x W. 61 cm Seat height 42.5 cm Note: Round back chairs, starting with the burgomaster chairs...

An unusual Indian half-relief carved ebony armchair Coromandel coast, 1680-1700 ? Throughout carved with floral and vine motifs, the back rail with a central peony and ...

A Sri Lankan ebony wall bracket by Don Andris Cabinet Makers, Colombo Colombo, first half 19th century, stamped Don Andris, Cabinet Makers Colombo on shelf The shelf suspended by three foliate motif carved rests and one plain rests to the wall. Measures: H. 50.5 x W. 43 x D. 15.5 cm Note: According to J.W. Bennett in 1843 (in: Furniture from British India...

A pair of hardwood, possibly Intsia Bijuga, side chairs, first half of the 18th century. Indonesia, Jakarta (Batavia) or India, first half ...

A MOLUCCAN RED EBONY CENTRE TABLE WITH MARBLE TOP The Moluccas/Ambon, third quarter 17th century Carved in low-relief with decoration of plant...

An Indonesian ebony centre table with marble top Jakarta (Batavia) or Coromandel coast, 1650-1680 With shallow carvings of flowers and vi...

A pair of Indonesian lacquered and gilt teak torchères or candle stands Probably Jakarta (Batavia), 18th century Each on three spreading feat with human hand-shaped foot, knobb...