A cabinet with drawers inlaid with various types of wood
Japan, Hakone, Meiji period
Rectangular, the top with a wide drawer, two doors enclosing five drawers of varying sizes and also inlaid. The eight hinges, the lockplate, the corner mounts and the six handles made from red patinated metal with floral engravings. With separate sliding lock for the drawers, the whole inlaid with a variety of geometric motifs made of various types of wood.
H. 57 x W. 55 x D. 37 cm
Provenance:
– Collection of the Liebers family, The Hague (1874-1996)
– Private collection, The Netherlands
NB:
This exeptionally well preserved cabinet dates from before 1874 and was acquired in Japan by Bruno Liebers during the time of his work contract there (1874-1878) with the precursor of the Japanese government printing office in Tokyo. As 'Maschinenmeister' he was responsible for the introduction of the pneumatic printing process in Japan. Bernhard Bruno Ferdinand Liebers was born on December 6 1836 in Leipzig and died May 24 1900 in The Hague after a career as a printer and publisher of, amongst others, the socialist magazine Right for All. In 1872 he organized the fifth congress of the International together with Karl Marx which was held in The Hague. Bruno's cabinet remained in the family untill 1996. His Japanese pseudonym was Akai no Akuma, found in: W. de Vries Wzn., Biographical Dictionary, part 1, pages 69-70.