Antique Japanese Late Edo c1800's Chobadansu Document Chest 4 Drawer 37"H

Japanese Sugi Wood Chobadansu Merchant Chest Late Edo Zenkoji Temple

Japan, late Edo period, early to mid 1800's

37"H × 35"W × 15.5"D (94 × 89 × 39 cm); approx. 55 lbs (25 kg)

A commanding single-piece chobadansu (帳場箪笥) in straight-grained sugi (Japanese cedar), built for active commercial use and bearing the marks of long institutional service. The front elevation presents a full-width lockable top drawer fitted with a forged iron hasp lock and a pair of D-ring carrying handles; below, two large sliding panel doors (hikido) open to a deep storage bay, their pulls cast in a distinctive lobed floral form — an unusual and refined touch on a working chest. The lower register holds three pull-out drawers of graduated width, each with forged iron ring pulls and lock plates, over a final full-width sliding door fitted with milled horizontal sugi slat panels. Iron strap reinforcements, corner brackets, and nail-head trim appear throughout, consistent with Edo-period tansu hardware conventions. Side panels carry large U-form carrying handles for transport. The reverse bears a bold sumi-ink inscription reading 全興寺 (Zenkōji), indicating this chest served a Buddhist temple of that name — a compelling and rare institutional provenance for a piece of this type.

Condition: Consistent with age and working use. Overall surface shows honest patina, scratching, and abrasion across drawer fronts and top panel. Iron hardware retains original surface with appropriate oxidation; no significant losses or replacements apparent. Locks present; key not included. Structurally sound throughout.

An exceptionally characterful example of late Edo commercial furniture with documented institutional provenance — the kind of piece that earns its place in any serious collection of Japanese mingei or mercantile antiques.