Japanese smoking cabinet

15 April 2013

The ethnographic collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum has been enriched this week by a fine wooden cabinet that has been used in Japan while smoking a kiseru. The square box contains a metal brazier and ash tray on the top. Smokers, both the owner and his guests, could light their small pipes with the coals from the brazier and after one or two puffs empty the pipe by hitting the ash tray. In the front there are three small drawers for tobacco and other implements. In the front edge a dedicated inclination is made in order to hold the pipe of the owner.

Special about this small cabinet is the exclusive marquetry with various kinds of exquisite woods, sawn in an intricate pattern in a way only the Japanese can invent. The smooth polish, combined with the delicate bronze is fit for a welcoming Japanese smoker who likes to impress his guests. Hidden in the design, is a bronze handle at the top that enables the user to bring in the cabinet in an elegant way.

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