Antique Japanese Meiji Era c1890’s Clothing Tansu Chest Sugi Wood 47"

Japanese Antique Sugi Ishodansu Bo-Dansu Tsuru Minogame Shishi Iron Tansu Chest

Japan, Meiji period, circa 1890–1910

46 in. W × 34.5 in. H × 22 in. D (117 × 88 × 56 cm)

A substantial single-body isho dansu (衣装箪笥) in the bo-dansu (棒箪笥) tradition, constructed of sugi (杉, Japanese cedar) throughout with a black-lacquered frame and ebonized side panels. The front presents a well-organized hierarchy of storage: a full-width top drawer secured by a large chased-iron tsuru (鶴, crane) lock escutcheon — wings spread across the full drawer width — below which a central hikido (引き戸) sliding door panel is retained by an iron locking bar with a shishi (獅子, lion) center plate. The lower-right compartment functions as a ko-dansu (小箪笥) safe fitted with a cross-form iron lock and a minogame (蓑亀, long-tailed tortoise) escutcheon, the auspicious mino tail rendered in fine chased detail. Drawer pull backers throughout carry their own iconographic vocabulary: botan (牡丹, peony) and kiri (桐, paulownia) among the identified motifs, with karakusa scrollwork on the corner reinforcements. Drawer boxes are cleanly constructed in sugi with straight-grain cedar bottoms. Side panels each carry a single iron carrying handle. The full ensemble of hardware motifs — tsuru, minogame, shishi, botan, kiri — forms a coherent program of auspicious and aristocratic imagery consistent with quality Meiji production.

Condition: Good antique condition commensurate with age. Black lacquer on frame and sides shows wear, scratching, and losses consistent with use and handling over more than a century. Front drawer panels retain warm color and grain. Iron hardware throughout is intact and functional; surface oxidation and minor losses to chasing present but do not detract. Drawers slide with minor variation in resistance. Cross-form lock fitting on the lower-right safe door is present and complete.

A boldly scaled bo-dansu with an exceptional and iconographically coherent iron hardware suite — the tsuru, minogame, and shishi lock escutcheons together mark this as a chest of well above-average quality and collector interest.

Please contact us for details on shipping this tansu by white glove freight service. Shipping cost will be higher than initially calculated in checkout. 

This chest has a century and a half old original warm aged patina and, having been used lovingly for over a century, it remains in fine original antique condition and should serve for another century of use. There are some areas of past stains and distress marks as expected from a genuine antique. The Bo (drawer bar) does not appear to be original. A great piece of Japanese history and an interesting and very solid and functional piece of furniture.