Another small chest based on a Japanese kodansu. This is one of my earlier ones that started me on the Japanese box route! Kodansu were highly decorated small table cabinets made in the 19th century to store items related to Kōdō - the Japanese incense ceremony.
The chest is veneered with a jarrah parquetry pattern enhanced with makie lacquer 'wheels' and maple leaves.
The rear of the chest has two makie lacquer Love Birds.
The interior is veneered with cherry sprinkled with Gold dust. The three small internal drawers are made of Woodie Pear with lime edging.
Their interiors of the drawers are also sprinkled with 'gold' dust. The drawer knobs are stud earrings depicting a maple tree. Makie lacquer maples leaves enhance the fronts.
The largest drawer contains three small boxes with lift off lids. These are made from cherry with lime stringing and Makie lacquer maples leaves on their lids.
A hole in the bottom of the drawer allows a finger to push up the middle box to extract it.
As with all my projects this is finished with 8 or 9 coats of polyurethane varnish, sanded down with mirco mesh through to 4000 grit, and then wax polished
I love making these small chest - so much packed into a small space - great fun! This one is gift wrapped in a traditional Furoshiki .
Thanks Steve. So I'll let you into a secret about the decorations. Yes they are Japanese makie but ......... they are sold as mobile phone stickers!!!!! I saw the M on a trip to Japan, being sold in a high class lacquerwear shop. They are like the old decals that we put on our model plastic aeroplane kits.. they are however real gold!!! The finished surface has to glass like to ensure they adhere well!!! I also used them on another Kodansu called Carp islands - I'll have to post it. They are quite expensive but I think worth it.
