Description A WOODEN TANSU CHEST WITH 5 DRAWERS, EDOJapan, 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868)The chest made of wood, with a drawer below the hinged cupboard doors, both set with iron locks, the latter opens to reveal four further drawers. Applied with iron handles and iron fittings.Condition: With extensive wear, scratches, nicks, few age cracks and small losses, in any case, still in stable condition. The locks not functioning properly.Provenance: Family collection of either Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) or his son-in-law Louis (Loek) Borensztajn (1935-2021), Netherlands. Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) was an architect, art collector, dealer, and founder of the first Museum of Japanese Art in the Middle East. He became one of the world's leading collectors of Japanese art, starting at the age of 18, and continued to collect and work as an art dealer in Berlin in the 1920s. In the 1930s Felix Tikotin fled from the Nazis and hid his collection in the Netherlands. After the war, he decided that his collection should be taken to Israel, where in 1959 and with the help of Abba Hushi, who was the mayor of Haifa, The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art was established. The Museum's collection comprises more than 8,000 items of art and crafts.Dimensions: 49 x 29.5 x 43 cmTansu are traditional portable storage chests, in Japanese traditional houses, there were no fixed chairs, tables, or pieces of furniture in the living space. Tansu were intended as mobile cabinetry, and used to keep objects of daily use, clothes, and personal items. They were also frequently employed by shopkeepers to store inventory, records, or valuables, as well as in warehouses, and even on ships for the personal use of the captain or owner.