Antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Kurinoki (Chestnut), Keyaki (Elm)and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Sliding doors cover a spacious area where business books and documents were stored. Hand made iron fittings and hardened wooden nails were used in the construction of this chest. Multiple drawers were used to store business stationary, writing brushes, money and business supplies...

Antique Japanese lacquer suzuribako (calligraphy box) decorated with young pine shoots and a fruiting tachibana (wild orange) tree near a small stream. Gold maki-e lacquer on a dense gold nishiji ground. The underside of the lid has a continuing scene of the stream winding through rocks with sprouting bamboo in gold maki-e lacquer on a spars nishiji on black lacquer ground...

Antique Japanese large lacquer document box decorated with a design of climbing clematis vines in full bloom. Gold maki-e lacquer with details in gold nishji lacquer on some of the leaves. All on a black lacquer ground. The sides of both the lid and body of the box are carved with a recessed area where reddish orange lacquer has been applied over a loose material, creating a woven texture. Hardware rings on the sides...

An antique Japanese alter tansu made of Kiri (Paulownia) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. Sliding doors cover an area used to store religious books featuring decorative side cut-outs for ventilation. Multiple drawer configuration used to store alter fittings and accessories.

Age: Late Edo Period (1800-1868)

Dimensions: 29 3/8" High x 36" Wide x 14 3/4" Deep

An antique Japanese Ko Tansu (personal storage chest) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. Hand made iron fittings with hardened wood nail and straight dovetail joinery construction. Opening the hinged door reveals two small storage drawers behind. Original age patina.

This chest was originally used in a Japanese home to store letters, documents, stationary and small keepsakes. In a contemporary home it functions well as a beside stand or a side table...

Antique Japanese Todana Tansu made from Hinoki (Cypress) and Sugi (Cryptomeria) woods. Originating in the Kansai region of Japan it features sliding doors covering a shelved storage area with 6 drawers...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (Merchant Chest) made of Keyaki Burl (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Handmade iron fittings featuring the raised tea leaf design on the front corners of each drawer. Sliding doors with locking bar covering a book and business document storage area with shel while the hinged door covers 2 small drawers...

An antique Japanese 2 section tall Kyoto Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova), Kirinoki (Paulownia) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. All iron fittings are original and hand made. Two sliding Keyaki doors the top section open to a spacious storage area behind while a hinged door on the lower section opens to two small drawers.

Straight dovetail joinery construction using hardened wooden nails. Tansu of this configuration have become rare to find in Japan...

Japanese lacquer kogo incense container in Korin-style with rabbits gazing at the moon. One rabbit made of quail egg mosaic and the other of silvered lacquer sitting in the reeds. Square shaped container with mitered corners. Top with silvered moon. Tomobako with typed old labeling.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)
Size: 2 1/4"H x 1 5/8"W x 1 5/8"D

Antique Japanese dark green bronze suiban on four elephants head legs. Ribbed sides with kanji in raised relief (Good Fortune Fuku or Good Fortune) on sides. Key fret design on rim. Signature etched with three characters on bottom, "Tōryūshū".

Meiji Period (1868-1912) circa 1900s
Size: 4 3/4" H 8 3/8" W 7 1/4" D

An antique Japanese 1/2 Sendai Tansu made of Kakinoki (Persimmon) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Hand made iron fittings featuring beautiful lock plates on the drawers and the hinged door.

There are 2 secret hiding compartments behind the hinged door. The first is found by sliding out the bottom drawer separator wall revealing a secret storage area where valuables could be hidden...

An antique Japanese Niigata 2 section Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) with hand made iron fittings. The lock plates feature the Sho Chiku Bai motif (Pine, Bamboo, Plum Blossom known as the 3 felicitous friends of winter) with the longevity symbols of the turtles and crane. Each drawer has Kakute handle pulls and the hinged door hides 3 small drawers.

The front of the chest is made of natural Kirinoki while the tansu body was designed using a dark red wiped lacquer technique...

An antique Japanese 2 section Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) made entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood with hand made iron fittings. Featuring lock plates that depict the full moon, each drawer has Kakute handles...

An antique Japanese Buddhist temple ranma (transom) carved from Hinoki (Cypress) wood featuring symbols of Dharmachakra. Dharmachakra sometimes symbolizes Gautama Buddha himself. There are three wheels of life each framed with 8 spokes, representing the noble eightfold path with lotus blossoms in the center . Accentuated by kumo karakusa (arabesque clouds). Minor losses.

Age: Late Edo Period circa 1850s

Dimensions: 15 1/4" High x 60 3/4" Wide x 2 1/4" Deep

An antique Japanese Kansai 2 section tall Todana Tansu made of solid Keyaki (Zelkova) and Hinoki (Cypress) woods. Hand made iron fittings and hardened wooden nail and iron nail construction. Traditional Japanese joinery throughout this lovey chest. Shunkei style lacquer reveals the beautiful grain pattern which evokes visual movement. Side wood supports typical of Kansai region tansu.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 66" High x 41 3/4" Wide x 23 3/4" Deep

An antique Japanese 2 section Nihon Matsu Tansu made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Natural Urushi lacquer finish and hand made iron fittings. Accented with butterfly and plum blossom Atari handle backstops...

An antique Japanese merchant desk made of Keyaki burl (Zelkova), Honoki (Magnolia), and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Elegant two leg support balancing 5 drawers. Bronze metal pulls and through mortise and tenon joinery brings this well designed functional chest together.

Present day contemporary uses for this desk would include additional storage and document shelf atop a full sized counter or large desk as well as an elegant display riser to showcase a statue or porcelain figurine.<...

A fabulous large Mingei Tokkuri from the Satsuma region in the shape of an eggplant, glazed in black with crystalline blue about the neck over iron rich glazed clay. Likely from the Hirasa kilns, one of the great Satsuma production centers on the southern Island of Kyushu, 18th to early 19th century. It is 24 cm (10 inches) tall and in overall excellent condition, enclosed in a kiri-wood collectors’ box.
The history of Satsuma ware goes back to the 16th century when Japan fought in the...