Antique lacquer items !

Boy i must admit i like lacquer japanese items, they are quite expensive though and each time i can get one it is a real pleasure :o)

There are various lacquer techniques in Japan, depends on the region they come from... Personally my favourite ones are " Wajima Nuri " ( red, black or green lacquer with designs made of gold ), " Kamakura Bori " ( wood is cut and then painted ) and " Negoro " ( used red lacquer over black )

I wanted to show here these 2 kinds from meiji/taisho period ( around 1900 ), i like them because it looks like " art nouveau ", one with " koi " carp design has even seashell parts to make fish eyes ;)

My favourite design as always " tsuru " cranes :

A wonderful old " Juubako " lunch box with golden flowers and butterflies :

Little red lacquer " andon " with seashells marks on the foot, i changed 110V electric system for french 220V because i liked its old atmosphere :)

Other old kimono tansu !

Kannon biraki no kimono tansu or ISHO-DANSU, these are special furnitures to store clothes dating from Edo period ( 1603 to 1867 )... When a girl was born, family used to grow a tree in the garden ( generally pawlonia tree ) . And when the girl was leaving the family house for marrying someone, the tree was cut to make an isho-dansu. This furniture was the symbol of the parents love for their married daughter... So we can say these are very special furnitures !

One with " kiri " kamon ( leaf of pawlonia tree bold design ) iron middle part in front of the opening doors, wood is unknown ( may be " keyaki " zelkova tree and " sugi " cypress ) :

Red lacquer kodansu, small furniture with drawers :

Tansu !

About furnitures they are generally called " tansu ", each one has specific use like " mizuyadansu " for the kitchen ware, " kimonodansu " to store clothes, " kodansu " for little items... there are also " hibachi " to set the fireplace, haribako for sewing tools and so on...
For the moment i only bought furnitures to store clothes and useful stuff in the bedrooms...

Kimonodansu like this 3 set one from meiji/taisho period ( around 1900 ) made of " kiri " ( pawlonia wood ) which is light weight and scent protects clothes from bugs, each part will go on top of each other this way :

It has typical drawers for kimono storing :

Thing i like about these old furnitures are iron parts and handles designs :

Also sometimes there are still items from old days attached to them like this antique little "hinamatsuri" ( girls day festival where dolls of prince and princess are displayed ) charm :

Flower design iron door knobs :

Shouji !

Well long time without posting new message here...
Afterall this blog was about japanese traditional items and now that guest house building is over it is time to think about decorating it !
So i will show some of the items i want to display inside to give an idea of atmosphere i wanna create in the ryokan :)

First in a japanese traditional house you have the " shouji ", these wooden sliding doors are usually made of sugi ( a japanese cypress ) and used in various purposes : like making a window, separating a room, making closets or just for esthetic display... with japanese washi paper they let ligth pass threw with delicate shades...

Most of " shouji " sliding doors patterns are geometric like these :

For the bedroom " Snow perfume " :

Or they can show nature design like this 4 panels pine " shouji " ( may be in the tea room or bedroom bamboo forest i don't know yet ;) )