Translation Of Mark Or Possible Kanji Please

[hddennis]

Haven't been able to find out if this is a trademark or kanji. It appears on the bottom of 2 beautiful miniature cloisonné vases I just acquired.

 

Any help greatly appreciated,

Howard Dennis

[SteveM]

Maybe not much of a help, but the vase itself looks like Kyoto cloisonne enamel (京七宝 Kyō-shippō)

 

I was thinking the mark is something like 山一 (Yama-ichi), with the red angle representing a mountain over the kanji numeral for "one". But goofing around with the search engine didn't uncover anything like that. 

[Peter Bleed]

I think that Steve is correct. These things are called "YAGO" and they were like house crests for common families. They were still being used in rural Japan in the 1980s to mark family gear. They let every bring dishes and cloths to group events and them get all their own stuff back home. They were certainly used in Edo times, too, of course. The interesting thing to me was that these were created and read rather like kanji. But they were also somewhat simpler than formal kanji. Thus a family with the surname -say - Yamamoto, could draw a picture of a mountain that would be read "YAMA." Then the oldest son's family could put an ichi in that picture of a  mountain. It then became a symbol that could be read "Yama Ichi." And that houses' stuff could be differentiated from the property of the stuff belonging to the house that descended from the second son. Their stuff would be marked with a 2 under the picture of the mountain. That yago would be read "Yama-Ni".

Merchants and dealers also used these things and you see them today on things like soy sauce and sake.

Bottom line, Howard, is that I think this mark is a statement about who used to own this vase rather than who made it.

Peter

[hddennis]

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate the help and it was great to learn a little more about the culture who's objects my wife and I love to collect. All started by my father-in-laws gift of a 17th century wakizashi he got on the invasion of Okinawa and has led to a house full of Japanese art.

 

Howard Dennis

[hddennis]

 

Just ran across this vase with a mark very similar to mine but not exact. Anyone have idea if this is an artist signature or a company mark and what does it say?

 

Howard Dennis

[SteveM]

山 + イ　(Yama + I)

 

I searched around briefly, but couldn't find an exact match. I did find a site that describes the inverted V as "yama", which is used to signify wealth. 

 

https://esashi.town/culture/culture01.html

 

My guess is that イ stands for Itō or Inoue, or one of the many other Japanese last names that begin with this letter.

 

I did find a match for the first one in this thread (Yama + Ichi) on wikipedia in an old advertisement for Yamaichi securities. Its near the middle of the page (at the top of the black and white poster) 

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%80%E8%AD%89%E5%88%B8

[hddennis]

山 + イ　(Yama + I)

 

I searched around briefly, but couldn't find an exact match. I did find a site that describes the inverted V as "yama", which is used to signify wealth. 

 

https://esashi.town/culture/culture01.html

 

My guess is that イ stands for Itō or Inoue, or one of the many other Japanese last names that begin with this letter.

 

I did find a match for the first one in this thread (Yama + Ichi) on wikipedia in an old advertisement for Yamaichi securities. Its near the middle of the page (at the top of the black and white poster) 

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/山一證券

Thank you Steve

 

Howard Dennis