Description

Nobuo Moriya went to Europe and the United States in 1920 to study European furniture and patterns in England and France. After returning to Japan, he became an assistant professor at the Department of Wood Crafts of the Tokyo Higher School of Arts and Crafts.
The “Shu no Shokudo” is one of the model rooms presented at the 11th exhibition of the National Art Association in 1925, and was restored by Matsudo City in 2008. The Matsudo City Board of Education and the Kenmochi Design Institute conducted a detailed investigation of the restoration, referring to Moriya’s drawings and color instructions, and Miyazaki Wood Works was responsible for the production. The coloring was done by Masanobu Tamura at the Tokyo University of the Arts, and the work is a close reproduction of Moritani’s designs of the time.
This work is said to have been inspired by Japanese and Chinese vermilion lacquered sake cups, but the heart, clover, and other patterns and plant decorations are of Western origin. The armchair is said to have been made out of “curiosity to see how painting vermilion on an English early 18th-century rustic-style chair would give it an oriental feel,” demonstrating the knowledge of Western furniture that he had acquired while studying abroad.
While creating works that embodied his own ideals, such as the “vermilion dining room,” Moriya also formed the furniture organization “Ki no mecha” in 1926. Here, he aimed to produce and promote practical and beautiful Western-style furniture for the general public.