{"id":277234,"date":"2026-05-07T18:19:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amaruantiques.com\/?post_type=product&p=277234"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:56:31","slug":"antique-japanese-folding-low-table-in-keyaki-japan-circa-1920-am30011","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/amaruantiques.stg.uzero.cat\/en\/antique-furniture\/antique-japanese-folding-low-table-in-keyaki-japan-circa-1920-am30011\/","title":{"rendered":"Antique Japanese low table with pass-through drawer in keyaki \u2013 Japan, circa 1920"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antique Japanese low table with pass-through drawer in keyaki<\/strong>, with a rectangular top in solid keyaki<\/em> and a pass-through drawer<\/em> that runs across the body and opens from both ends. It originates from Japan, from the Taisho period (1912\u20131926), when the zataku with drawer stood at the centre of the main room, beside the brazier and the tea table.<\/p>\n

The Japanese low table with pass-through drawer combined two domestic typologies: the zataku \u2014 dining or working table on tatami \u2014 and the small drawer-bearing tansu. The pass-through system responded to the logic of Japanese space, where the table could be approached from any side without a fixed front or back: the drawer opens from whichever end is closer to the user. It was a common piece in middle-class homes of the Taisho period.<\/p>\n

The top is built in a single sheet of well-figured solid keyaki, the grain opening in waves with small knots that trace the heart of the tree. The pass-through drawer, joined by dovetail and running on internal wooden battens, carries on its front a strikingly graphic circular burl figure<\/em> \u2014 a natural knot in the wood, left exposed and varnished in a light tone \u2014 finished with a wrought-iron plate handle. The four squared legs and perimeter apron are mortise-and-tenon joined, without metalwork, and finished in dark lacquer that contrasts with the natural tone of the drawer.<\/p>\n

The top’s patina is dense, darkened by years of domestic use, with glass marks, tea stains and the odd surface trace near the centre. The lacquer on the legs is softened where the table was most touched. The drawer keeps both its fronts intact, its original handle and a smooth glide over the inner battens. Every mark preserves the material trace of its everyday life on tatami.<\/p>\n

It sits naturally in japandi, wabi-sabi or contemporary minimal interiors. It works as a coffee table in front of a low sofa, as an auxiliary table at the foot of a bed, or as a tea table on the floor, where the pass-through drawer holds linens, cutlery or small utensils and the burl front reads as the only graphic note of the composition.<\/p>\n

Details<\/strong><\/p>\n