Antique Meiji
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Vases
Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Metalwork
Copper, Enamel
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Vases
Silver, Bronze, Copper
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Porcelain
Early 20th Century Japanese Taisho Sculptures and Carvings
Stone
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Vases
Enamel
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Vases
Pottery
Antique 19th Century Chinese Meiji Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Porcelain
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Vases
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Enamel
Early 20th Century Metalwork
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Metalwork
Metal, Enamel
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Bronze, Copper
Antique 19th Century Japanese Paintings
Antique 1880s Japanese Meiji Tables
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Ceramics
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Chinese Edo Paintings and Screens
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Table Mirrors
Bronze
Early 20th Century Japanese Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique 1880s Japanese Meiji Tables
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Late Victorian Platters and Serveware
Ceramic
Antique Mid-19th Century Japanese Meiji Tableware
Brass, Enamel
Early 20th Century Chinese Decorative Boxes
Bronze, Copper, Brass, Enamel
Antique Mid-19th Century Japanese Meiji Tableware
Brass, Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Cabinets
Iron
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Enamel, Brass
Antique 19th Century Japanese Decorative Bowls
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Decorative Boxes
Porcelain
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Decorative Boxes
Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century French Japonisme Mantel Clocks
Ormolu
20th Century Japanese Meiji Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Ceramics
Ceramic
Antique 19th Century Japanese Planters, Cachepots and Jardinières
Copper
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Jars
Enamel
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Planters, Cachepots and Jardini...
Enamel, Brass
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Paintings and Screens
Gold Leaf
Early 20th Century Japanese Furniture
Metal
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Jars
Enamel
Antique 19th Century Japanese Decorative Art
Porcelain, Paint
Antique 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Decorative Art
Porcelain
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Early 20th Century Pottery
Pottery
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Bronze
20th Century Antiquities
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Bronze, Copper
Antique 19th Century Chinese Metalwork
Bronze, Copper
Early 20th Century Figurative Sculptures
Giltwood, Lacquer
Early 20th Century Figurative Sculptures
Giltwood, Lacquer
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Antiquities
Wood
Early 20th Century Ceramics
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Japanese Centerpieces
Porcelain
Vintage 1910s Metalwork
Bronze
Antique 19th Century Japanese Paintings
Lacquer
Antique 19th Century Chinese Planters, Cachepots and Jardinières
Porcelain
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Antique Meiji For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Antique Meiji?
A Close Look at Meiji Furniture
From 1868 to 1912, Emperor Mutsuhito oversaw an era of transformation in Japan. Formerly a country of feudalism and isolation, Japan entered an age of modernization influenced by newly established trade and exchange with the West. The Meiji period, or period of “enlightened rule,” also saw the global impact of the East Asian country’s culture. Japanese Meiji furniture was exhibited at expositions from Paris to San Francisco and created for export.
Prior to the Meiji era, furniture was mostly made by commission for the ruling class; now there were new domestic and international markets. European styles like Japonisme appropriated Japanese design while craftsmen in places like Wales and England employed japanning, a varnishing technique that approximated the appearance of lacquer for the surfaces of furnishings.
Meiji furniture made for Japanese homes and buildings constructed in Western styles resulted in taller tables, chairs, cabinets with large drawers and other features. The government invested in areas such as transportation and communication, and because people could freely choose occupations after the restrictions of feudalism, industries of various types were energized by expressive new ideas during those years. Art schools were formed and, for the first time, design was an area of study in the country, leading to the evolution of professional design as a career by the 1890s.
The work of Japanese designers was transmitted widely through lavishly illustrated pattern books that included designs for screens and lacquerware for the home. While screens today may be of use as decorative accents or partitions to ensure privacy in one’s space, Japanese screens were adorned with paintings and were featured in performing arts such as concerts, tea ceremonies and more. The color illustrations that characterize Meiji woodblock prints, a genre of Japanese art that grew out of 17th-century developments in printing and book publishing, depicted the sweeping changes that the era brought to East Asia.
Although it was a time of societal and cultural shifts, a bolstered interest in art and design elevated Japanese craft traditions. From colorful porcelain table lamps with silk shades and hardwood tables decorated with dark lacquer to cabinets featuring iron hardware and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, Meiji furniture showcased Japan’s artistic heritage to the world.
Find a collection of antique Japanese Meiji period case pieces and storage cabinets, decorative objects, wall decorations and more furniture on 1stDibs.








