Can anyone make sense of this signiture?

[Babu]

Odd Signed menuki but is that a mei or a trick?

Thank you

[Surfson]

Is it upside down?  Took a long time to load.

[Tanto54]

Based on the post size and placement (evidenced by the remaining solder) this is a mae-kanagu (tobacco pouch clasp) instead of a menuki.

[Babu]

Many menuki were adapted for this purpose after 1879. 

It may well be, but my experience of pouch clasps has almost always been thin pressed examples in copper. 

The thicker ones almost always Menuki re-purposed 

I'm sure there are no doubt exeptions to the rule though. 

I'd still like to know what if anything it reads. 

Thank you 

[Brian]

I think we'd like to see more pics and overall pics of the menuki before we comment on the mei.

[Babu]

Additional information 

 

[Brian]

It's a menuki, not a tobacco pouch decoration at least. Looks to be a nice one. Pic of the entire back?

[Surfson]

Sorry, maybe Steve will come along.  Is the label in the back solid gold?  

[Babu]

I think so yes. 

[SteveM]

If I had to make a guess I'd say 如竹 (Jochiku), but only because it shares the highly abbreviated strokes and a couple of vertical strokes found in some  of the examples of Jochiku. It doesn't really look like Jochiku, but on something with such limited real estate, the artist is almost forced to reduce any kanji into just a series of very abbreviated strokes. Maybe our native speakers will jump in to save us.  

[Tanto54]

Dear Brian,

 

Sorry, it is not a menuki - it is a tobacco pouch ornament.  You can tell this by the vestiges of the two soldered posts (as you know menuki only have one).  In addition, if this were a menuki (which it is not) then the single central post would be exactly where the signature plate is.  Low quality tobacco pouch ornaments were pressed, but good quality ones are made exactly like menuki (except for the number of back posts).

 

Here's a tobacco pouch - see the Kanagu on the front - looks just like a menuki.  The second photo is the "snap clasp" that is attached to the Kanagu on the back side of the pouch flap (it's basically a snap)(in this second photo, the pouch itself is missing).  See the two places marked with red circles?  That is where the two thin posts from the back of the Kanagu come through the pouch flap and are attached to this snap plate.  In the third photo, you can see the same two attachment points on the "snap clasp" that is still mounted on a tobacco pouch flap (the decorative kanagu is on the other (front) side of the flap).  The fourth photo is the back of a kanagu with the two thin posts and the "snap plate".  Quite often when the kanagu is taken off the tobacco pouch the two thin posts are broken off leaving only the solder (I've literally seen thousands of these).

 

You can always tell Kanagu (tobacco pouch ornaments) from menuki because they have two thin wire like posts soldered to the back about an inch apart (instead of a thicker single post in the middle for a menuki).

 

 

[Brian]

George, agree with you now. My comment was before the pictures of the backs were added. Based only on the top photo I thought there was more to the menuki. But the new pics are clear and show both pins. So 100% correct.

[Surfson]

Another alternative is that it was mounted as a pin.  I bought at auction a whole set of Meiji era pins that are essentially menuki mounted for either attaching to clothing or some other stationary surface.  Many of them have solid gold name tags like this one.