Japan chest of drawers late Edo period, circa 1850

Dresser ishô-dansu (linen) - japan late edo period, circa 1850. It is a garment chest (ishô-dansu). Japan, production center of sendai. The frame of this bass chest of drawers is made of keyaki wood (zelkova serrata) - fully pegged. It is in two parts (this allowed it to be adapted to the home) - total height 107 cm. The gate in the lower right part, reveals two drawers. The edo style combines power and simplicity with a discreet oriental influence. The craftsman sought the balance between wood and sober fittings. Because of its age this piece of furniture has multiple wear, shocks, scratches. The left side is darker than the right side. It had to be exposed to the fumes of a brazier - stitched ironwork - the side handles are highly oxidized and have created wear. Like the vast majority of edo-meiji furniture, the keys are lost - so the gate does not lock. => it thus has the "wabi sabi" aspect dear to the japanese: it is a spiritual and aesthetic concept, derived from zen buddhist principles. "wabi" means, simplicity, melancholy, nature - "sabi" is the alteration of time, the taste of old things, the patina of objects. Wabi refers to modesty in the face of natural phenomena, and sabi, sensation in the face of things in which we can detect the work of time or men. This model appears in the city of sendai, around 1710. Until the end of the edo period (1603-1868), sendai produced tansu for the samurai (storage of weapons, clothing, and valuable documents.).

Ref. : FKZH3KVR