GLOSSARY OF TERMS
BAIMU Cypress, a softwood, that is used for large pieces of furniture or
decorative trim. Has a light
colored grain.
BODANSU A general term for any tansu that relies on a
vertical locking bar (bo) to secure the drawers. This is one of the very oldest tansu designs.
The bar is sometimes referred to as a kannuki, or closing bar.
CHADANSU A chest for tea utensils.
Finely crafted pieces make in the twentieth century have lost their
mobility and therefore cannot be considered tansu in the strict sense of the
word. Chests specifically intended
for use in the tea ceremony are called tea-ceremony tansu.
CHODANSU A general term for shop tansu, originally used
to store account books, also called chobadansu if intended for use on the raised
platform (choba).
DOGUBAKO - Small tansu used by craftsmen to store fine tools
and small supplies.
EDO PERIOD Japan, 1603-1868.
FUNADANSU Sea chests, tansu used on the
thousand-koku ships and on land by ship owners and captains.
Mosly built between 1716 and
1907 at the Japan Sea towns of Ogi, Sakata, and Mikuni in three styles:
kakesuzuri for the ships papers, hangai for clothing and chobako for account
books, money and documents.
GOYODANSU Goyo designates some official function.
These chests were most commonly used to transport and store documents.
HAKO Literally a box but occasionally applicable to
tansu as in the chobako sea chest and the gyoshobako. Hako is pronounced bako in compounds. In that tansu makers were often referred to as hakoya or box
makers, it is still common for the older generation to speak of the tansu
craft as hakomono, literally box things.
HEISEI ERA Japan, 1989 to Present.
HETAOMU Chinese walnut, ranging from a medium to dark brown. It is somewhat rare and
seems to show up most often in tables from the 18th century.
HIBACHI - A vessel made of bronze, ceramic or wood with a
metal lining, filled with fine ash and bits of charcoal used in Japanese homes as
a portable fireplace and space heater.
HINOKI Aromatic cypress used for the framework of some
merchant tansu from western Honshu, as well as for objects of daily use.
HONGMU More commonly called blackwood, this wood
is rare but not uncommon. Often
used for decorative trim on cabinets and chairs.
Its color is a deep chocolate brown bordering on black with a small
grain.
HUANGHUALI A hardwood valued by the ruling Chinese
elite, it belongs to the rosewood family and originally came from the south
China island of Hainan. Furniture
makers often dyed it to look like zitan but it became so popular among western
collectors during the late 19th and 20th centuries the
color was often stripped off. Usually
thought to have a honey colored hue and a tight even grain, it can actually
range in color from light brown to mahogany dark. Very few stands of these trees are left, and at times it was
thought to be extinct.
HUANGYANMU Boxwood, a brown hardwood used ornamentally in
Chinese furniture, in a relief sculpture or carved wooden hinge on a cabinet
door.
HUALI A common, light honey colored wood sometimes
mistaken for huanghuali.
IKEBANA - The art of Japanese flower arranging.
IMARI - Japanese high fire ceramic that was produced near
and shipped out of the port city of Imari.
ISHODANSU General term used to denote clothing storage.
JICHIMU Literally translating as chickenwood,
this rare wood is brown with a vivid grain that resembles the layered feathers
of a chicken wing.
JUMU Southern elm, a soft deciduous wood (meaning that
it is porous enough to hold a color) most commonly used for late Qing pieces.
Plentiful in central and southern China, it has a rich grain, is usually
a medium brown but can also be lighter or darker.
KAIDANDANSU Built in staircase tansu, most always in
two or three sections for mobility. Popular
with merchants in urban areas of Honshu during the Edo period for use in shops
and storehouses.
KATANADANSU Tansu for storing sword blades without the
hilts and scabbards. Usually of
paulownia wood with one or several small lockable drawers to accommodate sword
fittings.
KEYAKI Zelkova, a hardwood related to the elm with a
bold grain and used in tansu as both a primary and a secondary wood.
KIMONO - A type of Japanese clothing.
KIRI Paulownia, a softwood highly prized by the
Japanese for cabinetry because of its flexibility, tone and texture.
KURUMADANSU A wheeled chest. Outlawed in Tokyo during the Edo period due to safety issues.
MEIJI ERA Japan, 1868-1912
MIZUYA This term is associated with the preparation
area of a tea ceremony room. The
mizuya chest is usually a frame and panel chest on chest for food and utensil
storage, found within or near the kitchen.
OBI - A sash used to tie a kimono.
QING DYNASTY China, 1644 - 1911
SAKE - A Japanese type of alcohol.
SHODANSU Book chests, usually small, with drop fit
doors. These chests are sometimes
referred to as shobako.
SHOGUN - In Jana, the person with the highest
political rank starting in the Kamakura period c.1200 and ending in 1868 during
the Meiji Restoration. Only a person in the military class could rise to
the position of Shogun, and only one person at a time could be Shogun, and they
were always male.
SHOWA ERA Japan, 1926-1989
SUGI Cryptomeria, a non-resinous conifer used
extensively as a secondary wood for the tops and sides of case pieces with
hardwood faced drawers.
TAISHO ERA Japan, 1912-1926
TANSU Japanese cabinetry that allows for mobility by
either by structural design or hardware. When
used in a compound, tansu is pronounced -dansu.
TATAMI - A thick mat made from rice straw covered in a thin
woven mat attached with a fabric band used in Japanese homes, usually of a set
dimension.
TEMORO A small personal tansu for women to store hair
ornaments, a mirror, cosmetics, etc.
TETSUBIN - A small iron pot with a handle used to warm tea
water.
UKIYO-E - Japanese woodblock prints. Translates
to "pictures of the floating world".
USUBATA - A bronze flower vase used in ikebana.
YUMU Northern elm, similar to jumu.
ZITAN The most sought after wood of the Chinese court,
it was imported from SE Asia and cut to extinction. It is a very hard wood and thought to be a yellow flower pear
wood. It has a rich, deep
purple/black color.
References:
Chinese Country Antiques Vernacular Furniture and
Accessories, c. 1780-1920. McCormick,
Andrea & Lynde. A Schiffer Book
for Collectors, 2000.
Tansu Traditional Japanese Cabinetry.
Heineken, Ty & Kiyoko. Weatherhill,1981.
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