Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

This beautiful hallmarked piece has very, very fine detail. It appears to be old. It belonged to my mother, but it could have been in the family for a long time. I would be very grateful for help identifying it. It's about 2 1/4" in diameter.

The photo is a bit small but the circular decorations look to be in the style of "mon", or Japanese family crests. The mark, shown on its right side, appears to be 芳 (fragrant) within a plum flower-shaped impression. Maybe beadiste recognizes it. I found the character associated with the name 'Yoshi', though there are other transcriptions.

Best regards,

Bill H.

This design appears in belt buckles and bracelets that seem to cluster in the 1910s-1920s era.
Here's an example of another small piece from a recent online auction, a neatly crafted little matchholder. The color and detail on these pieces is very appealing, isn't it?
Is the clasp perhaps an old-fashoned C-clasp rather than a safety clasp?
I looked in Fredric Schneider's book on Japanese cloisonne to see if the mark appeared there, but I did not see it.

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