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This piece was purchased prior to WWII in Japan. It has been confirmed to be ivory but the seal on the base has yet to be translated. Can anyone decipher it?

The seal is "Tokugawa Family".

Blessings to you. It's taken me months to find someone to interpret this seal. Many thanks to you!

The seal, shown upside down, may read as "Mitsuhiro" (光洋). A noted ivory carver named Ohara Mitsuhiro was active during the Late Edo to Meiji era but the second character in that Mitsuhiro was different than shown in your carving's seal. I drew some Google responses concerning ivory carved by an artist named "Koyo", which is another transcription associated with the same kanji, however the characters were not included in the responses, so there's no guarantee of applicability. Perhaps you'll have better luck if you continue the search.

I can find nothing about the characters 光洋 to indicate they have particular relevance to the Tokugawa Clan (徳川家). Perhaps Jiro can clarify where his information came from.

Best regards,

Bill H.

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