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Subject:Re: Help with translating marks
Posted By: Bill H Wed, Oct 07, 2015
I believe these characters (范蘭西施鄔富順 - Fan lan xishi Wu fu shun) probably were intended to be read in their Chinese mandarin pronunciation, which I perceive to be closer phonetically to the name 'Frances Wolfson', which appears to the right of the inscription, than the Japanese reading might be. The red seals seem to belong to someone named Frances Wolfson as well. Perhaps this individual had a set of seals carved, and the maker wrote the name out phonetically in standard Chinese script, or they could have been a Chinese language student who excelled well enough to write it personally.
The two characters 西施, Form the name Xishi (Ca 450 BC), one of the four legendary beauties of ancient China. So this part of the name was used as a compliment, by indicating Frances Wolfson to be an attractive woman.
While there are some variants in the written form of the language that the Japanese call 'kanji', its foundation is still standard Chinese characters.
Best regards,
Bill H.
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