Ishô’dansu 衣装箪笥

Stunning wooden ishô’dansu 衣装箪笥 (cabinet of drawers) in two sections. Fully restored, cleaned and waxed.

It is made of hinoki cypress wood and varnished in a soft warm brown hue.

The cabinet has large iron circular lock plates with raised knobs shaped like chrysanthemums 菊 (kiku). Flanked by sturdy iron ‘warabite’-shaped bail handles with matching escutcheon.

Both parts with two large drawers. The sides with open work stylized pine tree-shaped handles. They are very deep and have a lot of volume, for easy storage, and run very smoothly as well.

The sides are equipped with in total eight slender ‘warabite’-shaped handles (totte) and in total four pole-carrying handles, with ornate back plates, for easy transport and “locking” the upper section to the lower part.

The ishô dansu is in a very good restored condition. Please see the photos for a condition reference. No key included.

Dimensions:
Height 109.4 cm, Width 97.2 cm, Depth 42.1 cm.

Meiji period (1868-1912).

Tansu (箪笥) are traditional Japanese mobile storage cabinets. There are many different types of cabinets; form-wise, but also for the storage of many specific objects, like katana, documents, kimono etc. Starting as first recorded in the Genroku era (1688–1704) of the Edo period (1603–1867), tansu gradually became a feature of Japanese culture and daily life. Both hard and softwoods were used by tansuya (tansu craftsmen), often in combination for a single chest. This way the chests were still light enough for transport, while also housing precious (more heavy) wood types, like keyaki. Also features such as side handles, and being built up from several parts facilitated mobility of such an ingenious piece of furniture.

When shipped we will add a certificate of authenticity.