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I need help identifying a carved Ivory goblet, (Meiji), that was purchased at Sothebys London in 1974. It appears to be Mammoth Ivory and I would like to know who made it? There is a signed cartouche on the bottom and what appears to be an oak leaf on the interior of the cup. I am also interested in selling if anyone can point me in the right direction since it's getting harder and harder to sell pieces like this.

Among other possible transcriptions, the kanji mark on your goblet (shown a few degrees right of upside down) can be read as the Japanese given name Toshiyuki (利幸). The Sotheby's and Christie's archives both contain references to auctions of ivory okimono carved by a Meiji artists named Toshiyuki, but my query didn't turn up the '74 auction, and none of the hits showed the characters in addition to the transcribed name. As such, while I think Toshiyuki probably is your guy or studio, there's a small chance it may be pronounced Toshitaka, though I got no apparent ivory carvers in response to a Google query for that version. The feminine name Risa also uses the same characters, but I believe ivory carving during the Meiji period probably was a male-dominated profession.

Best regards,

Bill H.

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