Cabinet

This is a cabinet used to store various objects such as money, grains, and tableware. It is designed for various uses and sizes, ranging from small ones for coins to bigger ones for grains. Like bandaji, which is a chest with a half-hinged side, this is made mainly of interlocked panels of pine, paulownia, or sawleaf zelkova wood, while the top board is divided in two with only one made to open. This is also referred to as uitdaji, meaning that its door is on top, unlike bandaji, whose door is on the front. The decorations on the cabinet serve to support the structure, rather than being purely decorative, and most of these cabinets have no unnecessary ornaments. Some cabinets have flat metal decorations on the front or the sides, hinges, metal brackets to connect panels, and metal door handles, while others are only made with interlocked panels and no metal decorations. Depending on the usage, the door on the top can be separated from the cabinet, or able to open and close on hinges. Large cabinets employ a separable door board, or a partial opening on the top board. The cabinet shown here is made of sawleaf zelkova panels with dovetail joints and a metal lock. The joints between panels are supported by metal brackets, and handles are attached at the four vertical faces for portability. Inside of the door board, the Chinese phrase, “己酉二月初八日具飭,” is carved, which indicates the manufacturing date of the cabinet is the 8th day of lunar February in the year of gisa.