Recently I acquired a large 45x33mm bead designed as a Japanese scroll weight (fuchin). The design and rounded shape resembles a spherical bead also in my little collection of three. None of them were very expensive (although the crocheted and knotted tassels seem harder to come by), possibly because they look so … “rugged,” shall we say.
Two possibilities:
1.
They’re early mid-19th century
cloisonne, made before the early pre-Meiji workshops got the glass formulations
and wire solder right, hence the gassy, pitted enamel that can’t be brought to
a high polish (doro shippo); or,
2.
They’re much later products, possibly circa
1920s, deliberately designed to be crude according to the wabi-sabi aesthetic.
What do you think?
[Note: clicking on a photo will enlarge it, and the image can then be enlarged a bit further by opening it in a new tab.]
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| My small collection |
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| Comparison of 4 different cylinders |
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| Six more cylinders |
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