Shibayama style shodana. Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912).

Shibayama style shodana. Japan, Meiji period (1868-1912).
Combines exotic woods.
Decoration in makie lacquer combined with engraved gilt metal panels and carved bone applications.
Provenance: Pardo-Mitsunaga Collection.
Piece reproduced in the catalog of the exhibition "The beauty of the ephemeral. Japanese art through the collections of Daniel Buján and Pardo-Mitsunaga", held at the Museo do Mar de Galicia (Vigo), November 2025-January 2026.
Measurements: 237 x 150 x 55 cm.

Exceptional Japanese Shibayama style shodana made during the Meiji Period, a period of extraordinary technical refinement in the Japanese decorative arts and intense production for both the domestic market and Western export.

The cabinet, conceived as a multi-compartment architectural cabinet, has a complex stepped structure articulated in doors, drawers and niches. The upper crest is richly carved with phoenixes among openwork vegetal scrolls, an auspicious symbol of renewal and prosperity, while the base shows a powerful carving of dynamic character.

The decoration combines diverse techniques of high virtuosity. The central panels are executed in engraved gilded metal, with finely incised landscape scenes depicting mountains, architecture and watercourses, achieving spatial depth through stippling and polishing variations. In other areas, lacquer decorated in makie technique is used, with gold applications that enrich frames and ornamental backgrounds. To this are added elements carved in bone applied in relief, characteristic of the so-called Shibayama style, which integrates different materials on lacquered surfaces to enhance the effect of visual richness.

The ensemble evidences a balance between ornamental exuberance and technical sophistication, a distinctive feature of the great Meiji furniture exhibited at the Universal Exhibitions of the late 19th century. The shodana were prestige furniture, intended both for the display of objects linked to the tea ceremony and for the affirmation of the owner's social status.

Due to the quality of the carving, the fineness of the engraved metal panels and the compositional harmony of the whole, this piece ranks among the most elaborate productions of Japanese furniture of the Meiji period, constituting a remarkable example of high-level Japanese decorative arts.