Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

I need opinion what purpose has this japanese silver box w and who was the maker.

This is a so called Echigo mirror shaped
(Flower with 8-petals) jewelry box.
Inscription reads,
杉村製　　Sugimura-sei Sugimura product
銀純　　　Jungin Pure Silver (From right to
left)
This types of boxes were made in the Taisho Era
(1912-26) for commemorative events as expensive
gifts. The name of event was usually engraved
on the inside bottom of the box.There is nothing to refer to anything.
With regards,

Thank you very much for your response

Dear Chris,
Sorry for the misleading information. This is
Muramatsu, seemingly, I was very sleepy last night
with wrong reading glasses.
With regards,

The vertically stacked mark reads "Muramatsu Sei" ("Made by Muramatsu), while the one beneath it reads horizontally from the left as "Jungin" (Pure Silver). The bold mark at the top looks to contain a stylized character for "Mountain" derived from the ancient oracle bone form. I've seen somewhat similar logos used by the publishers of woodblock prints. Perhaps the forum's well-schooled group of contributors on Japanese arts can comment on the meaning. This mark doesn't seem to appear on another Muramatsu box I found online (Link).

Muramatsu seems to have been active during the Meiji period (1868-1912) and later. The name has been associated in more recent times with the manufacture of silver flutes, possibly by the same family.

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :Muramatsu

FYI, The kanji appears to me to be 村松 (むらまつ), "Muramatsu", a Japanese placename and surname, according to the online JDIC.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank you very much. One another member of forum read the makers name as Sugimura-sei Sugimura. Which name of maker is correct?

The logo at the top of the picture is the trademark of Shirokiya Department Store. The store was in business in Tokyo for about 300 years but is now closed. Local invertors bought the Honolulu branch and it is currently in operation there. The piece was probably produced for Shirokiya as a promotional item.

Here is a link to an interesting article about the old Shirokiya store in Tokyo.



URL Title :http://www.oldtokyo.com/shirokiya-department-store/

Thank you very much for your response. Best thanks for all people which war so kind give your opinion

Roger, thanks much for the valuable elucidation.
Bill H.

Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |