As of yet, I have neglected writing about tansu that contain a specific traditional feature, the Bo (locking bar). This has not been due to my lack of interest in this particular feature, more just waiting for a piece that contains multiple aspects that I find worthy of discussing. Well, I finally found one with this stacking clothes chest.  Traditionally, brides took their personal tansu to the new husband’s family home, and I think that’s what we are looking at here.

The bo dansu is one of the oldest styles of tansu, probably due to the fact that it required the least amount of kanagu (hardware) to secure everything. Now in my uneducated opinion, I believe the seller of this piece is right in stating that it is from Yamagata Prefecture. One telltale feature is the warabite handles and the keyaki (zelkova) drawer fronts. I think this would be from around the mid to late Meiji era, because in earlier pieces, the handles were set against single small zagane (escutcheons) rather than full toshi-zagane (backplates) which this piece has. Furthermore, I think we can pinpoint the region of manufacture to the Shonai plain due to the style of the obikanagu (sash hardware) that are on the bo. Obikanagu were more than just decoration, they also added strength to the locking bar as well as help keep the wood from warping. Cool, huh? Well I could go on forever about hardware or how maybe thats bengara stain under the laquer on the sash hardware etc… Let’s just look at the pretty pictures instead.

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In case you never noticed, space has always been a premium in Japan. Over the years, starting in the Edo era, that space was created by either combining items for multi-purposes, or they became more mobile and specialized.  The zeni-bako is one example of this progression.

The merchant class was growing and they needed to be able to have a tool that combined a writing box (kakesuzuri) and a money storage chest, so that they could take in the kane (money) and also be able to take notes on the transactions, hence the zeni-bako, which combined both.  This was greatly helpful to the thriving merchant who couldn’t trouble himself with smaller transactions, or ones that might have been conducted with a lower status client.  He could send his help out on the show floor with one of these boxes to conduct business, while he sat at the back in front of his zeni-todana (more on that in a later post) with the upper echelons.

The basic design of a zeni-bako consists of a stoutly made box, usually zelkova or chestnut, and a removable half lid with a locking plate of some sort on the front face.  Also, they often had a drawer for the necessary writing accoutrement’s.

This piece has an interesting way of hiding the drawer.  I’m not sure if you can consider this to be a true kendon-buta (drop-fit door), but i think it’s cool nonetheless.  The only thing this piece is missing one tell tale design aspect, the masu, which is a coin shaped slot.  That may indicate that this piece was not used in a typical merchant shop, maybe a public bath, temple or shrine.  In any case, I think it’s a nice example of a zeni-bako.

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I recently had the opportunity to go to Maui and hang out in Lahaina to check out all the historical points of interests.  The one I want to share today is the Lahaina Jodo Mission.  While again, this is not exactly an antique,  it does have historical meaning.

The main attraction has got to be the large Amida Buddha statue which was cast in Kyoto during 1967-68.  The statue is made of copper and bronze and weighs around 3 1/2 tons.  It was brought to Hawai’i to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to the island.  The statue was once purportedly the largest cast Buddha outside of Japan.

The grounds also house a three tiered pagoda, a traditionally built temple with beautiful paintings by Hajin Iwasaki, and the largest ceremonial bell in Hawai’i.  Unfortunately my photographs of the temple and bell structures didn’t turn out, but I do have a nice one of the pagoda.  If you’re ever in Lahaina, I highly recommend giving the Mission a visit, and remember to recite the Nembutsu, “Namu Amida Butsu”, if you ever expect to enter the Pure Land.

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Ok, this might not be Japanese, but this is the kind of stuff I like collecting and it has dual meaning to me. First off I inherited it from my Grandfather who was an avid collector of absolutely anything (might be where I got my antiques virus from) and it also shows how Eastern crazed the West was at the turn of the Twentieth century.

I can’t find any information for this item anywhere, but I can at least tell you what it states on the canister. The Samurai Perfume Co. was based in Newburgh, New York, which during the late 1800’s was quite an industrial hub (so much so that it is actually the first American city to be electrified and had the first electric street lights). This product was first registered under the Food and Drug Act on June 30, 1906. Reg. No. 10,168. This tin can be dated to 1914 due to the two IRS tax stamps affixed to the label, one for 3/8ths of a cent and the other for 1/4 of a cent. There is some Kanji on the label but my reading is rusty and can’t make out more than a few characters. Also, there are a lot of Japanese style imagery that may or may not be actual historical motifs and I haven’t had the time to try and decipher them. In any case, I don’t care, I just love the thing. If anyone out there knows about this stuff please let me know.

Here are a few close ups so you can check out the coolness for yourself.

Hisashiburi ne! It’s been a while hasn’t it. Got a job as a cabinetmaker again, I guess I just can’t keep away from wood. But, it’s been keeping me away from this site, so it’s time to rectify that.

I couldn’t help but show you this kyodai that’s up for auction, since I previously posted an earlier style here with a more complete description. As you can see, this piece has the later square western style mirror as well as the highly figured wood. These began to be used in kyodai pieces after Sakoku, Japan’s exclusionary acts, were forcibly lifted in 1853 by Commodore Perry’s gunboat diplomacy. The listing states that this is made with keyaki (elm), but I think it looks more like kuwa (mulberry). Also, listed as 19th century, but it could be as late as early 20th. Handles look like they have been replaced with more modern hardware. Cool, none the less.

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