Help with mae-kanagu mei

[John C]

Hello:

I was able to figure out Yoshi something but cannot get the second kanji through available resources (google app says Yoshimitsu, Tobu, or Good Luck but I don't think those are correct). The pic attached comes from Eric H. in an old thread, however I have the exact same kanagu on a tabako ire.

Thank you,

John C.

[uwe]

I would suggest “吉明” (Yoshiaki), although one stroke is missing. 

[John C]

@Bugyotsuji

Piers - any idea what the second kanji could be? Attached is my kanagu, which has the same mei and a similar style as the first pictured.

Regards,

John C.

[Bugyotsuji]

Hi John, Uwe above seems to be correct, so I simply gave him a like. 
Why?

Well, many artists would make a subtle change to their signature. 明 should have a 日 on the left but it could be that the choice of 口 was deliberate even if not grammatically correct, i.e. artistic license. At a glance most people would read that Yoshiaki anyway. 
The clincher would be if you could find other examples signed in the same manner with faint or absent cross bar, but two is already pretty definitive IMO.

 

草野吉明

Have you checked out for example Kusano Yoshiaki?

https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/198238

[John C]

 

13 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Hi John, Uwe above seems to be correct, so I simply gave him a like

Thank you Uwe and Piers. I meant to ask about whether or not the mei is an individual or a company. I have seen many of the same style tabako ire (make-up pouch?) with this mei and fittings (broccade material, large chain hanger, manju style netsuke, Yoshiaki mei or mumei). See example below. I was curious if this were a mass produced retail piece or from a very prolific craftsman?

 

John C.

[Bugyotsuji]

Not a company but an individual ‘kinkō’ metalworker, possibly even of two or three generations. Although prolific, many of these pieces may have come back to certain dealers and collected together over the intervening century.

 

Incidentally I found several different-kanji Yoshiaki artisans, (all sound the same in English, but not the same person) but one -aki using the same 明 character also shortened the left radical, to simply two dots in that case.

 

Pic follows.

[Bugyotsuji]

PS As you will be aware, artisans quite often changed the way they signed, depending perhaps on the nature of the particular work, or what period of life they were in. They might change one or more kanji, or take on their master’s name for example. This can complicate the picture, requiring further thought and study.

[John C]

4 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

They might change one or more kanji

Thank you, Piers. This explains why I was having such a hard time finding the kanji as written.

And thanks again @uwe for the translation.

John C.