Japanese Cabinetry: The Art and Craft of Tansu - Hardcover

David Jackson; Dane Owen

3.78

9 ratings by Goodreads

9781586851132: Japanese Cabinetry: The Art and Craft of Tansu

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1586851136 ISBN 13: 9781586851132

Publisher: Gibbs M. Smith Inc, 2003

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Originating from Japan's Edo period (1615-1867), tansu refers mostly to wooden cabinets, boxes and chests. The gifted creators of this art were deservedly esteemed by Japanese society, leaving a rich and influential legacy. Their work was almost anonymous, though, and the history has remained in the shadows-until now. Japanese Cabinetry: The Art and Craft of Tansu is the first truly definitive volume on tansu, giving voice to the long-overlooked craftsmen and overdue respect for the craft itself. This book provides a broad representation of cabinetry designs along with contextual history, gleaning insights from the cabinetry itself. From trunks with wheels to shipboard safes, from kitchen cupboards to clothing chests, tansu were the receptacles of an age of economic expansion. Japanese Cabinetry chronicles not only the physical characteristics and details of tansu, but also the historical eras and societal factors that influenced the craft. < BR>David Jackson has been buying, collecting, and conserving tansu since 1990. He lives in Sante Fe.< BR>Dane Owen founded Shibui, a gallery of Japanese antique furnishings. Mr. Owen is a frequent visitor to Japan, searching for objects for his customers and his private collections. He lives in Sante Fe.< BR>

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From the Back Cover:

Japanese Cabinetry: The Art & Craft of Tansu is the first volume one the handcrafted tradition of tansu to be published in more than twenty years, and includes exquisite examples from all regions of Japan.

From the Inside Flap:

Tansu are the realization of three craft traditions of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Japan. Prior to industrialization, the joiner, blacksmither, and finisher created chests of select woods, hand-forged iron, and opaque and transparent lacquers. Each chest was handmade in every aspect of its production. Just as these chests held items ranging from clothing to account books, they reflected the changing social conditions of the Edo and Meiji periods. By the early twentieth century, the heyday of tansu had largely passed and craftsmen's lives making handmade furnishings were profoundly changed forever by modernization.Tansu provide us a glimpse into the lives of townsman and samurai. They were cabinets that held kimono, lacquer, tea wares, swords, books, and the inventory of the thriving merchant class. They provide evidence of the intertwined lives of three craftsmen who mutually created storage for the masses. Tansu further provide a gateway into understanding the Japanese use of residential space and what objects actually filled the role of "furniture."The cabinetry of Japan is one of the least recorded aspects of Japan's fertile woodworking history. In concert with historical imagery and vintage photos, Japanese Cabinetry: The Art & Craft of Tansu answers the call for greater documentation, provides examples of merchant, household, and personal cabinetry never before seen, and illustrates essential details of craft. It is a reference for the craftsman and historian, a source for the interior designer, and a guide for the perspective buyer.

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