This striking black & gold Japanese kodansu table cabinet dates from the Meiji period (1868 – 30 Jul 1912) and is in excellent condition.

The artwork on this kodansu is of very high quality. The doors are richly decorated with cranes (a common subject in Japanese art), and a resplendent bustard (a more unusual design). More traditional motifs such as fans, butterflies, songbirds, and native flora are also found. 

The lacquer is in exceptional condition for its age and gold has been applied using the maki-e technique of sprinkling gold powder onto the lacquer design whilst wet. 

There are eleven internal drawers featuring fan and cloud designs with delicate butterfly handles. The internal cabinet depicts smaller songbirds in bright, unfaded and undamaged coloured lacquer. A particularly interesting detail is the origami crane detailing decorating the base of the cabinet and the geometric patterns on the insides of each door. 

Textured lacquer work detailing of the fans on the top drawer and the high-quality workmanship on the silver hinges indicate this would have been an expensive work to commission. 

The Meiji era was a period of great change in Japan as it opened its ports to the West and transitioned from a feudal society to a modern nation-state. An appetite for Japonisme seized the West and as the foreign market grew the Meiji government actively promoted and funded the production and export of Japonisme work. Very few of the most outstanding works like this cabinet remained in Japan as they were mostly exported. 

From Japan

58 x 30 x 67  (wxdxh cms)

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