Matsuoka, Japanese manufacturer of luxury home furnishings, announced that it is making its international debut by showcasing four new collections in their new High Point Furniture Market showroom, IH408, this October. Showcasing the new collections, Matsuoka will be available through select retailers in major metropolitan markets.
In Japan, Matsuoka is known as an artificer of customized and superbly finished designs of extreme precision in exotic materials and rare woods. They began their craft over 140 years ago and originally gained fame as Japan’s premier maker of traditional “bridal” furniture. As tradition dictated, wealthy or noble parents of a new born would approach a respected crafter of fine furniture and request that Paulownia trees be sown so that a magnificent trousseau could be made as a wedding gift. The company would make meticulously crafted furniture with expressive veneers and beautiful inlays for the parents to present with great fanfare to the newlyweds as a sign of good fortune and happiness in their new life together. From there, the company’s reputation grew. Prominent celebrities, designers and personalities throughout Japan and from international locations began to consult them to create treasures for their own homes and work environments.
One of the many things that make Matsuoka unique is the wood that they use to create their masterpieces. Their craftsmen have searched the world to collect a priceless inventory of more than 70 species of some of the most spectacular decorative veneers and inlays including the world’s largest collection of exceptional Celebes Ebony harvested more than 35 years ago. Other select wood species include cuts of nacreous and lacey sycamore, expressive bird’s eye maple, sumptuous red sandalwood, various rosewoods, walnuts, mahoganies from several continents and African woods. For the cases they also use Paulownia, a fast growing sustainable plant that regenerates in 7-15 years. This makes an ideal, ecologically sound, substitute for traditional hard woods used in furniture. Matsuoka often adorns their designs with accoutrements of lustrous metals, semi-precious stones, exotic urushi, hand selected leathers and the finest Italian marbles. Their case goods have hand rubbed finishes and are all environmentally sound containing no VOC’s or other polluting toxins that create unsafe or allergenic conditions.
Matsuoka will also debut beautifully tailored upholstery to complement the case goods. In keeping with the high quality standards for which the company is known for, Matsuoka chose to partner with TRS in Thomasville, North Carolina, to create the world’s finest and most comfortable upholstery. TRS, respected among interior designers as a producer of upholstery of uncompromising quality, has a reputation as an independent crafter whose artists ascribe to the same exacting quality requirements as Matsuoka’s own artists.
Matsuoka will showcase at the High Point Market a selection of four collections developed directly from Matsuoka’s existing portfolio of more than 1500 designs. The urban sophisticated Midtown and Kotta collections are done in exquisite Celebes ebony, mahogany burl and bird’s eye maple. Madoka is a bedroom collection with traditional Japanese motifs scaled to western proportions and executed in teak with washi accentuation. The Wabi/Sabi Chigiri collection extends the vocabulary of Japanese styling, scaled to international standards, with superbly crafted pieces in a variety of expressive and rare veneers. These are complemented by a collection of items executed in fallen timber from the ancient 3000 year old Yakushima forest of “yaku sugi” wood, a magnificent boldly grained material available nowhere else on earth.
Matsuoka Kagu Seizoh is a manufacturer of heirloom furniture for discriminating clientele. Located in Fuchu City, Japan, the company has been in business since 1866 and is known for its production of collectible home and office masterpieces as well as traditional so-called “bridal” furniture for Japanese households. Matsuoka has the world’s largest collection of rare Celebes ebony, which is no longer available for commercial harvest, as well as one of the most abundant supplies of coveted superior figured Bird’s Eye Maple. They produce environmentally responsible case goods in a palette of more than 70 species and multiple cuts of rare exotic and decorative woods.