apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The Gargage - its a flea market on Saturdays and Sundays in a parking garage on 26th St between 5th and 6th (I'm pretty sure anyway). I've seen several things like this there - I go once a month.

Good Luck

Check my favorite antique store :

This one is a cool grand. I'm sure there's lots of others out there too.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/289319142.html

I think Room and Board has some media storage with Asian aesthetics such as the Akio, Kang (with the big cast iron knob/hinge thingys), Miyoko or Odori. They are also similarly priced.

The hardware and square edges identify that chest as wanting to be a Meiji tansu of the isho dansu sort, but I think the owner may have bought a modern update at that antique store, as I've yet to see a genuine tansu that so closely resembles a double dresser or has feet. Paying $1,200 for four drawers also says "good repro" to me, as a real Meiji tansu with four drawers would run you closer to $3,000. (Genji Antiques in San Francisco sells both real antiques and custom-made updates, so other places probably do as well.)

Alas, I don't know East Coast sources, but now you have some more words to Google.

ABC Carpet tends to have a bunch of these around (or at least the DUMBO one did when it was open). Also, Journey and the place next door to From the Source (both also in DUMBO).

Try this:

www.orientalfurnishings.com

They are in Elmsford, NY (Westchester) - I don't know what the prices are but the have quality pieces, are knowledgable and run a good business - I've purchased from them in the past.

I think they have this style.

Good luck.

I'll try again


http://www.orientalfurnishings.com/

there is one on 18th between 5th and 6th ave, but i dont know the name

One more suggestion:

There are tons of places to buy chinese style hardware. Have you considered finding a good carpenter and having a piece made for you? Custom made is frequently less expensive than store bought. You just have to do some footwork.

This looks like a 2-piece tansu where the chests would have originally been stacked one atop the other instead of side by side. I've seen dealers add bases to raise this type of chest from the floor. Not very close to NY, I'm afraid:

http://www.vanhiertottokio.com/

This site has some really inexpensive options and a nice looking asian inspired media cabinet for about $300 !! Plus it comes in red or black. Not exactly what you've pictured but similar.

http://www.homedecorators.com/P/Wuchow_Wide-Screen_TV_Stand_with_Drawer_and_Wood_Doors/110/

Alpine is one local shop up near madison square. Things Japanese is a good (though not cheap) source. Leekan and Jacques Carcanagues in SoHo. There is also a small shop on Crosby just below Houston that always has a handful of tansu. The pier shows -- there seem to be about six a year -- usually have several dealers handing tansu.

JTansu -- an internet source -- always has a wonderful seletion at good prices. You can access her offerings through trocadero.com and search tansu.

Old Japan, which recently closed, always had wonderful tansu and excellent prices. The shop is supposed to reopen somewhere in the New York area later this year.

I love tansu and have some myself. Well worth springing for the real antique higher priced ones.

Unfortunately, most suggestions here are as pricy as the price tag you want to avoid. Home Decorator's Wuchow collection is nice and inexpensive. There's
http://www.greenteadesign.com
but most of those pieces are also on the high side as far as price goes.

There's a place called ANC HOME DECOR at 10 W. 18th that has nice asian pieces and another place to check out would be China Antique Furniture at 45 W. 25th St.

Try search "kiri tansu japanese". You can find something like this.

http://www.zentnercollection.com/items/602462/enlargement602462zentner.html

Wow, thanks so much for all the great resources, everyone! Now I have a lot of places to look. I particularly liked this chest because it looks like it offers a lot of storage, so hopefully I'll be able to find something like it, or even better!

I hear that Flushing, Queens, has a lot of Asian furniture stores, and I'm betting the prices are better than Manhattan. Unfortunately, I don't know any specific stores.

Well, that's okay. One thing I sorta kinda forgot to mention is that I don't live in New York. I'm in D.C. I'm an interloper! So I will probably pursue some of these mail order options first...

Japanese furniture is a great example of how a country's environment affected design.

Japan is very earthquake prone and also has almost zero metal deposits.

Furniture is made so that it is quick to move out of a house before it falls down or catches fire. e.g. multi-part tansus. Artwork is usually on scrolls for the same reason. Traditional joints are intricate and metal-free, the japanese dove-tail joint is the wonder of carpentry.

The small nature of japanese homes also leads to furniture that is functional and uses space very efficiently; Europeans preferred big show-off pieces for the middle of their living areas.

I managed to make a very amateurish tansu in stained pine without using metal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86218988@N00/162964973/
the piece can be taken completely apart and re-assembled

If you ever go out to San Francisco, there is an abundance of asian antiques, even in unexpected and second rate antique stores.

there is a great furniture store in Dumbo on Jay St. that offers a lot of this style furniture. Next to From the Source - I can't recall the name....

Budda Vibe....but now under some other terrible name. On La Brea between Santa Monica and Melrose (across from Jet Rag) Has some pretty interesting pieces for cheap - hit or miss. Check for uneven legs - but easily fixed with some love. Just got a baroque accent table there for $100

Worth a browse if you can stand the incense.