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Historically, form followed function in the evolution of design
in Japanese furniture. Practicality and space were paramount in the
minds of Japanese carpenters, who considered the choice of timbers,
for each part of the construction process according to their
properties and the structural requirements of the parts, adding
handles for portability of the whole chest, which were usually
constructed in two or more parts.
Japanese antique furniture is simple, functional and designed to
ease of movement or portability. Nearly all chests have handles so
they could be easily moved on poles or carried by hand and are
often constructed in two parts.
Each piece is usually made of a one to three different timbers –
frame, paneling and drawer and door facades – different timbers
being appropriate for different purposes.
The development of Japanese furniture grew out of the early use
of simple lidded boxes or woven baskets for the storage of kimono
and personal possessions. While the aristocracy used simple open
shelves quite early on as well as trunks for travelling and
campaigns, the use of trunks and baskets for storage of clothing,
across all social groups, was common until the late C17th – C18th
when the merchant classes evolved and coastal trading
flourished.
The new merchant classes had a need for chests cho-dansu
or choba-dansu for storage of all kinds including chests
for keeping their paperwork, tea making equipment, small valuables,
later chests for clothing tansu became more common and there
were even chests for travelling salesmen to carry.
In substantial households in rural or provincial areas and when
household possessions, clothing and decorations were changed
seasonally, chests on wheels or kuruma dansu were a popular
method of moving goods between the main house in a compound and
a kura - the earthquake and fire resistant thick walled
store room - a substantial store room where goods were well
protected, for safe keeping, often along with the precious
rice harvest in rural areas.
Stair cases kaidan dansu were not built as part of the
structure of a house but as individual units of furniture, custom
made to fit the house, with built in drawers and cupboards, often
made in two parts for ease of movement.
Kuruma dansu:
In substantial households in rural or provincial areas and when
household possessions, clothing and decorations were changed
seasonally, chests on wheels or kuruma dansu were a popular
method of moving goods between the main house in a compound and
a kura - the earthquake and fire resistant thick walled
store room - a substantial store room where goods were well
protected, for safe keeping, often along with the precious
rice harvest in rural areas.
In the Edo period when the urban population grew exponentially,
many more kuruma chests were to be seen in Edo (Tokyo)
especially as the aristocracy were obliged by decree of the Shogun
to spend a certain amount of time each year there to ensure they
did not conspire to rise up against him
This led to the popularity of the wheeled storage chest amongst
the general populace as the design was seen as a pragmatic
method of fleeing quickly from fires with possessions, following in
the aftermath of the frequent earthquakes.
Kuruma chests became illegal in built up areas after the
conflagration, the Great Fire of Tokyo, mid C17th. Many perished
after one notable 'traffic' jam as kuruma dansu clogged
the narrow streets hampering the effort of fire fighters to quell
the flames.
However, it was still possible to own and use them outside the
urban centres and so the tradition continued in the rural
areas.
See our selection of kuruma - wheeled storage
chests here
The following book is an excellent resource:
Tansu: Traditional Japanese Cabinetry, Ty & Kiyoko
Heineken. Wetherhill:Tokyo, 1981. |