Antique Japanese tansu with drawers and iron hardware, of rectangular body and four wide stacked drawers topped by two short keyplate drawers, with side carrying handles. It originates from Japan, from the late Meiji period, when chests of drawers — domestic variants of the merchant chest — ordered clothing, textiles and family belongings in urban houses.
The tansu is part of the core domestic furniture of Japan: a solid, portable case, designed to be dismantled or moved in case of fire or relocation. The wide drawers held folded kimonos; the two short drawers in the lower body, locked with key, protected documents, jewellery or coin. The lateral handles, in forged iron, allowed the piece to be lifted by two people.
It is built in solid wood, nailed with perimeter reinforcement, with hand-forged iron hardware. The pulls are warabite hoops — fern-shoot silhouette — fixed to a square escutcheon at each end of the drawers; the two lower drawers retain their rectangular keyplates and small ring pulls. The finish is natural dark lacquer applied across the surface.
The patina is dense and honest, with the lacquer softened at the edges and on the most handled fronts, stable rust on the hardware and small perimeter losses typical of a heavily used piece. Every mark preserves the material trace of its domestic function.
It sits naturally in wabi-sabi, japandi or contemporary eclectic interiors. It works as a bedroom chest of drawers, as an auxiliary piece in a living room for tablecloths and textiles, or as a transition piece in a hallway, where the warabite hardware acts as the only graphic accent.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 65 cm – Width 38 cm – Height 62 cm
- Style: Traditional Japanese, Meiji period
- Materials and techniques: Solid wood; hand-forged warabite hardware and keyplates; dark natural lacquer; nailed assembly with perimeter reinforcement.
- Place of origin: Japan
- Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1900
- Condition: Good. Some scratches or other signs of use consistent with its age. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
