Small low chest of drawers (tansu) Japan, late Edo period circa 1850

The frame of this low chest of drawers is made of keyaki wood (zelkova serrata) - fully doweled. The edo style combines power and simplicity with discreet oriental influence. The craftsman sought the balance between wood and simple fittings. Due to its age, this piece of furniture shows multiple wear, shocks, cracks and scratches. Ironwork of the locks and corners pitted - the side handles are oxidized. Like the vast majority of edo-meiji furniture, the keys are lost => 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 aged things, the patina of objects. Wabi refers to modesty in the face of natural phenomena, and sabi, the feeling in the face of things in which we can detect the work of time or men. However, it is quite robust.

Ref. : 5P9FE5GH