An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of a rare Keyaki root burl (Zelkova Tamo), Kirinoki (Paulownia), and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hardware including Gumbai drawer pulls and sliding door handles featuring a gold inlay flying dragon amongst the sea and clouds. Multiple merchant drawers are hidden behind the sliding doors with an open space storage area where merchant books and records were stored...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Sakuranoki (Cherry wood), Kuri (Chestnut), Keyaki (Zelkova) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. Constructed using through mortise and tenon Japanese joinery. Horizontal side slats match the sliding door slats. Three drawers and the space behind the doors provide spacious storage...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Momiji (Maple), Sakura (Cherry) and Hinoki (Cypress) woods. Made with hand forged iron hardware including the Warabite handles. With 8 exterior drawers, 2 sliding doors behind which is a storage space with a removable shelf and a hinged door that hides 4 small drawers. constructed using straight dovetail Japanese joinery with hardened wooden nails. Pair of side handles to each side for ease of placement in a room...

An antique Japanese Mikuni Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Aka Matsu (Red Pine), Hinoki (Cypress) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Original lacquer finish and hand forged iron hardware including the Warabite handles and full moon lock plates). Through mortise and tenon Japanese joinery and side ribs for strength and support. Lift-up side handles allow through a wood pole letting two persons carry the tansu from store to store...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova), Suginoki (Cryptomeria) and Kirinoki (Paulownia) woods. Original Urushi lacquer front with a wiped lacquer technique used on the body. Hand made iron fittings with the round sliding door handles featuring an incised design of a lucky Pine tree and an old Minka (thatched roof Japanese home)...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant store chest) made of Kuwa (old Mulberry) and Kirinoki (Paulownia) woods. All original hand made iron fittings and finish. Two center hinged doors are removable with the hook and loop style hinge design. Front Warabite handles with two carrying handles on each side for positioning the chest and the additional swivel handles used with a wood pole to carry the chest from place to place...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made entirely of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the Warabite handles and full moon lock plates. With eight exterior drawers, a pair of sliding doors with split level shelf behind and a hinged security door that hides two additional drawers...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made entirely of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the Hikute style handles. Two front sliding doors open to 10 drawers of varying sizes including a large open compartment where business books and documents were stored.

Age: Edo Period (1800-1850)

Dimensions: 30 1/2" Wide by 23 3/4" High by 19 3/4" Deep.

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova), Aka Matsu (Red Pine) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Original wiped Urushi lacquer finish and hand forged iron hardware. 3 drawers with 2 sliding doors that hide a spacious storage area behind. Horizontal ribs on the doors and side of the tansu for strength and visual design...

Antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Hinoki (Cypress) woods. Multiple drawers of 8 exposed and 4 hidden behind the lower sliding doors. The upper sliding doors hides a spacious storage area where the merchant kept his store records and books. All original hand forged iron hardware with construction using straight dovetail Japanese joinery and hardened wood nails. Natural darkening surrounding the metalwork where the original patina had built-up...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Original hand forged iron hardware including the stylized Mokko handles. Seven drawers for organizing and storage with two sliding doors where store recordsn were kept and a safe door behind which two small drawers held merchant valuables...

A rare antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Original hand forged iron hardware including the Kikute handles and Urushi lacquer finish). Unusual design with two small drawers secured by a locking security bar and two sets of doors with the upper set having a spacious storage area behind and the bottom set having storage to the left and three small drawers to the right. The main drawer has a lock plate with an incised Chrysanthem...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Aka Matsu (Red Pine) woods. Beautiful original hand forged iron hardware and Urushi lacquer finish. Two full width drawers and sliding doors with horizontal slats that hide three small drawers on the right and a business books and records storage area on the left. Upper drawer features a lucky treasure bag lock plate with a stylized Mt Fuji lock plate below.

All sides feature horizontal slates for strength ...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant's chest) made of Keyaki Burl (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. The sides of the chest feature horizontal cross ribs for added strength and durability. Constructed using mortise & tenon, through mortise & tenon, and double through mortise & tenon joinery. Use of hardened wood nails. The sliding doors open to an expansive storage space that was used to keep store records and books.

Age: Late Meiji-Taisho Era (1900-1920)

Dimensi...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Hinoki (Cypress) and Aka Matsu (Red Pine) woods. All original hand forged iron hardware. Unusual counter Ryo Biraki design with door hinges in the center of the piece opens to a configuration of drawers and open cavities where store records and books were held. It has a low profile that was custom designed for the merchant for his specific needs. Constructed using straight dovetail Japanese joinery and hardened wood nails.

Age: ...

An antique Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware including the Kakute handles. Lock plates feature the original owner's family crest with fine stimple work decorating the design. Matching handle Atari (backstops) design to the lock plates. Leaf style corners on the drawers.

Two large drawers for spacious storage and sliding doors behind which the compartment where merchant books and records were kept. Hinge do...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) in a rare two section design made of Kiri (Paulownia) wood. All original hand forged iron hardware with full moon style locking plates and Warabite handles. Two sliding doors open to a storage area where merchant books and business records were kept. Recessed side handles on the tops of each section.

Merchant chests provided two important key elements for the store owner. The first was its functionality as a chest to consolidate the shop...

Antique Japanese Choba Tansu (Merchant Chest) constructed of Keyaki (Elm), Hinoki (Cypress) and Kirinoki (Paulownia) woods. Horizontal slates on the sliding doors and sides of the chest make up the traditional design of this piece. It features side pull-up handles, Kakute drawer pulls and rectangular locking plates. Originally used by a shop owner, this chest was typically positioned in a prominent location of the store to showcase the success and longevity of the business. The tansu comes fr...