新板・棚雛形〈四〉|New Illustrated Manual of Shelves, 4 (Shinpan/Tana hinagata, yon)
Unknown Artist
1893
Medium
Ink on paper
Dimensions
5 3/4 × 8 3/4 × 5/16 in. (14.6 × 22.2 × 0.8 cm)
Classification
Illustrated Books
Culture & Period
Japan · Meiji period (1868–1912)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1959
Accession Number
JIB174.24
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Asian Art galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we encounter *New Illustrated Manual of Shel, 4* (Shinpan/Tana hinagata yon), a delicate ink-on-paper booklet from 1893. Created by unknown artist during Japan's Meiji period (186–1912), this volume—measuring just 5¾ × 8¾ inches—belongs to a series of practical illustrated manuals guiding the design and construction of shelves, or *tana*. These were essential for traditional Japanese interiors, where multifunctional storage reflected the aesthetic of simplicity and harmony. In the Meiji era, Japan rapidly modernized am...