Antique small lacquered Japanese chest with two drawers, of nearly cubic plan and two stacked drawers at the front, with iron ring pulls and a leather or cord top loop. It originates from Japan, from the late Meiji period, when small lacquered chests accompanied the daily life of urban houses and small family workrooms.
The cubic kodansu was part of the portable furniture of the Japanese home: easy to lift and move from one room to another, it served to keep sewing materials, stationery or small personal items. The top loop, in leather or braided cord, attests to its use as a movable rather than static piece.
It is built in solid wood with fronts and sides nailed and the drawers fitted on internal runners. The pulls are hand-forged iron rings fixed to a diamond escutcheon, and the finish is natural dark-red lacquer applied in several coats, today darkened to a deep, warm tone.
The patina is dense and honest, with perimeter wear at the edges, small splits along the grain and the lacquer softened in the most rubbed areas. Every mark preserves the material trace of its domestic use — this is not a retroactively decorative object, but a functional piece that has reached us intact.
It sits naturally in wabi-sabi, japandi or contemporary minimal interiors. It works as a tabletop box for jewellery or keys in an entrance, as a low side table beside a futon, or as a stackable standalone object on another of the same series, where the dark lacquer reads as the only graphic note of the composition.
Details
- Dimensions: Length 31 cm – Width 20 cm – Height 21 cm
- Style: Traditional Japanese, Meiji period
- Materials and techniques: Solid wood; hand-forged iron pulls; natural lacquer; leather or cord top loop; nailed assembly.
- Place of origin: Japan
- Period: Meiji period (1868–1912)
- Date of manufacture: Circa 1910
- Condition: Good. Wear consistent with age and use.
This piece is part of the curated collection of Amaru Antiques, Barcelona.
ONE OF A KIND PIECE
