Japanese Tall Mahogany Three Section Tansu Cabinet with Brass Hardware. Antique piece, rebuilt and refinished in the 1990s. 

Size: 45 x 19 3/4 x 69 in. 

Tansu are traditional Japanese mobile storage cabinets for carrying clothing, particularly kimonos. Tansu were first recorded in the Genroku era (1688-1704) of the Edo period (1603-1867). The two characters, “tan” and “su,” appear to have initially represented objects with separate functions: the storage of food, and the carrying of firewood. As tansu gradually became a feature of Japanese culture and daily life, both hard and softwoods were used by tansuya (tansu craftsmen), often in combination for a single chest. Woods commonly used in tansu included keyaki (elm), kuri (Japanese chestnut), ezo matsu (pine), sugi (cedar), and hinoki (cypress). Tansu are considered highly collectable, and many collectors focus on finding genuine antique tansu from the Edo period. Fortunately there are almost no workshops who produce tansu in imitation of the classic antiques, due to the high cost of materials, the time and effort involved, and the very low prices of second-hand tansu. Tansu produced today can range from expensive works entirely in wood to pieces combined with plastic and other materials, sometimes functioning similarly to suitcases for regional travel. An early Meiji era common repurposing of tansu as haribako (sewing chests) led to pieces from the late 19th Century onward being significantly reduced in size.

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