1950s japan pen identification

[Parcival]

I received the pen today. Very nicely lacquered with red dragon. The nib is 14K gold Best Point #4. There is also some signature. Any info on a maker or artist?

[Number99]

The artist's name can be read in several combinations, such as "永弘” “作" Nagahiro or Eikou.etc. (The third kanji means "made”)

A search for this artist led to the following images of this Yahoo Auctions item. (The Kanji characters in the 9th image match.)

The pen is a tamamushi nuri, which is a patented technology of TOHOKU KOGEI CO. Ltd. Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (東北工芸製作所 宮城県 仙台市) . Tamamushi nuri items are industrial products produced by them exclusively.

Therefore, it is assumed that this artist belonged to TOHOKU KOGEI.

The pen also looks like tamamushi nuri, but I am not an expert of maki-e urushi.

What do you think?

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b1089540000

 

http://www.t-kogei.co.jp/en/

 

The nibs are made by Kawakami Kinpen Mfg. under JIS No. 3232

 

 

Edited June 21 by Number99
Remove meaningless image links.

[Parcival]

21 minutes ago, Number99 said:

The artist's name can be read in several combinations, such as "永弘”

 “作" Nagahiro or Eikou.etc. (The third kanji means "made”)

A search for this artist led to the following images of this Yahoo Auctions item. (The Kanji characters in the 9th image match.)

The pen is a tamamushi nuri, which is a patented technology of TOHOKU KOGEI CO. Ltd. Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (東北工芸製作所 宮城県 仙台市) . Tamamushi nuri items are industrial products produced by them exclusively.

Therefore, it is assumed that this artist belonged to TOHOKU KOGEI.

The pen also looks like tamamushi nuri, but I am not an expert of maki-e urushi.

What do you think?

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b1089540000

 

永弘作

 

http://www.t-kogei.co.jp/en/

 

The nibs are made by Kawakami Kinpen Mfg. under JIS No. 3232.

 

 

I have no idea what the pen is and what exact technology was used - whether it was drawn by hand or printed. I don't understand Japanese writing. It was just a beautiful pen and it wasn't expensive at all - only $89, and I couldn't pass it up.

[Parcival]

37 minutes ago, Number99 said:

The artist's name can be read in several combinations, such as "永弘” “作" Nagahiro or Eikou.etc. (The third kanji means "made”)

A search for this artist led to the following images of this Yahoo Auctions item. (The Kanji characters in the 9th image match.)

The pen is a tamamushi nuri, which is a patented technology of TOHOKU KOGEI CO. Ltd. Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (東北工芸製作所 宮城県 仙台市) . Tamamushi nuri items are industrial products produced by them exclusively.

Therefore, it is assumed that this artist belonged to TOHOKU KOGEI.

The pen also looks like tamamushi nuri, but I am not an expert of maki-e urushi.

What do you think?

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b1089540000

 

http://www.t-kogei.co.jp/en/

 

The nibs are made by Kawakami Kinpen Mfg. under JIS No. 3232.

 

永弘作 From Yahoo! Auctions product image.

 

 

 

 

 

These links are not working for me.

[Number99]

36 minutes ago, Parcival said:

These links are not working for me.

If it is a Tamamushi Nuri, it would be in the Ursipen range.

Compare it to the other items on the website.

I too think it is a beautiful pen.

 

For reasons unknown, Yahoo Auctions is excluding access from Europe.

From Europe?

Try using a VPN.

The message in the image states that it is not open to access from the UK and EEA.

 

 

 

Edited June 21 by Number99

[Number99]

49 minutes ago, Parcival said:

These links are not working for me.

I added a picture. Please refer to it if you like.

[Parcival]

8 hours ago, Number99 said:

I added a picture. Please refer to it if you like.

These photos won't open either... I'm using a computer, but I might try some online ip change.

[Number99]

1 hour ago, Parcival said:

These photos won't open either... I'm using a computer, but I might try some online ip change.

Well that's too bad...

The image is a link pasted from the Yahoo Auctions website. So I was wondering why you can see it. But it wasn't...

Please understand that it is difficult to paste screenshots of other people's works from Japan because of the strict copyright law and the lack of the legal concept of fair use.

 

I think it is possible to view from IP addresses outside Europe.

 

 

[mke]

 

> For reasons unknown,

 

If you are in Europe, you cannot access things Yahoo. This is old news and has been discussed here before - even before they cut the access. 

Reason is that Yahoo doesn't want to comply with the privacy regulations of the EU. So they refuse all access from Europe.

 

Use VPN if you need to see it.

[stan]

1950s eyedropper. Likely screen printed. Would hesitate to provide modern or current ascription. 

Nice pen. Get is repaired so it doesn't leak. It is a nice addition to your collection atg a great price.

[Number99]

57 minutes ago, stan said:

1950s eyedropper. Likely screen printed. Would hesitate to provide modern or current ascription. 

Nice pen. Get is repaired so it doesn't leak. It is a nice addition to your collection atg a great price.

Please tell me for clarification.

Do you mean that the pens in the Yahoo auctions are not Tamami-nuri and are not TOHOKU KOGEI products?

Or do you mean that TOHOKU KOGEI did screen printing in the 1950s, purportedly by hand?

The artist's inscriptions on the two pens match.

 

P.S.

I noticed that the punctuation was omitted in the text assembly of the item description on the Yahoo Auction Pen, causing a mistranslation.

I re-translated the text by breaking lines instead of punctuation marks and rearranging the Japanese to make it easier to translate.

My browser's Google Translate mistranslates the Yahoo auction pen as having a bell engraved on it. What was actually shaved was an ebonite pen body.

Then I have a tamami-nuri that is thinly coated and has no top coat and the paint does not feel thick.

 

 

未使用 筆記可 昭和初期 「永弘」作 玉虫塗（本漆塗 白檀塗 赤溜塗）

エボナイト削出ボディー

「鈴」 万年筆 １４金Ｆニブ 

墨絵

蒔絵

漆器

 

Unused, writable, early Showa era,

Tmamushi lacquer ware (Hon-urushi lacquer, Byakudan urushi lacquer, Aka-tamenuri urushi lacquer) by "Nagahiro".

Ebonite shaved body

“Bell” fountain pen, 14k gold F nib 

Sumi-Ink painting

Maki-e

Urushi Lacquer ware

 

Edited June 23 by Number99

[Parcival]

The background of the pen appears to be very thinly applied paint and may be screen printed, and the dragon image as well as the signature are in solid red paint that appears to be embossed and added on - I think it was done by hand.

[Number99]

Makie urushi products survived as arts and crafts, while Japanese urushi products of the past, which were closely connected to people's daily lives as folk art, are in a different category. Painting of daily necessities has been replaced by artificial paints.

Even today, the technique can be seen as ancient folk crafts as inexpensive and simple souvenirs of tourist attractions using artificial paints. They were all once urushi nuri.

Tamamushi nuri is designated as a "traditional craft" by *Miyagi Prefecture.

 

*They fall under the so-called local government, which has been transferred various powers from the national government.

Edited June 24 by Number99

[stan]

Without the pen in hand it cannot be ascertained the finish is, in fact, tamanashi-nuri, a guess by the seller, or effort by the seller to enhance to salability of the pen.

 

An online resource explains tamanashi-nuri as follows: Tamamushi-nuri is a type of Japanese lacquer (urushi) craft, created by applying silver powder to an urushi base, which is then coated in a layer of clear urushi.

 

There is no patent or copywrite on a particular type of urushi finish. Anyone with the right urushi, additive materials, a brush, and skill can create an urushi-clad anything. Tamanashi refers to a style of coating with Miyagi artists specializing in this finish.

 

The pen is a eyedropper. Other than a handful of makers eyedroppers were, largely, ceased to be made in the early-mid-1960s. The nib was made in post-1953 to the early 1960s. This is how the pen was dated.

 

Screen printing was common in this era. Note I used the term 'likely.' Hand makie was too. Artists could apply their kan to screen printed works and many screen-printed pens could be one-of-a-kind.

 

Now how can one tell the difference. Very difficult! Sometimes. I repeat SOMETIMES! One can hold the pen in strong light and see a very slight change in color variation around the circumference of the barrel and/or cap where the top and/or bottom of the screened applique was applied. This would be somewhere above the blind cap joint and somewhere near where the clip is inserted into the cap.

 

Good luck.

[Number99]

2 hours ago, stan said:

There is no patent or copywrite on a particular type of urushi finish. Anyone with the right urushi, additive materials, a brush, and skill can create an urushi-clad anything. Tamanashi refers to a style of coating with Miyagi artists specializing in this finish

The website's language setting is switched from English to Japanese for viewing.

I have copied and quoted the second paragraph from the top.

This is simple Japanese for customers. Translation is left to you.

 

艶やかに照り返す発色と光沢。

画期的な塗り技法。

「玉虫塗」は、艶やかに照り返す発色と光沢が特徴の、仙台生まれの漆芸です。光の加減で色合いが微妙に変わる、その豊麗な色調がタマムシの羽根に似ていることからこの名が付けられました。「銀粉」を撒き、その上から「染料」を加えた透明な漆を塗り上げるという独特の技法で、これまでの漆器にはない、鮮やかな色と輝きを生み出しています。

 

東北工芸製作所は、1939年に玉虫塗の特許実施権を得て、国内・海外向けに多くの商品を製作してきました。1985年には宮城県の伝統的工芸品の指定を受け、現在は献上品、記念品などでも多数ご注文をいただき、仙台の特産品として親しまれています。伝統的な品々を作る一方、現代のライフスタイルに合うさまざまな新商品の開発も続けています。

 

This is the same website I linked to above.

http://www.t-kogei.co.jp/tamamushinuri/

 

 

2 hours ago, stan said:

Without the pen in hand it cannot be ascertained the finish is, in fact, tamanashi-nuri, a guess by the seller, or effort by the seller to enhance to salability of the pen.

I agree, you are right.

It can be discouraging to receive it in hand, or it can be in better condition than expected.

 

2 hours ago, stan said:

Screen printing was common in this era. Note I used the term 'likely.' Hand makie was too. Artists could apply their kan to screen printed works and many screen-printed pens could be one-of-a-kind.

Many thanks for your instruction.

I would have liked to know such information.

Glad to get an explanation from you.

 

敬白

 

P.S.

seireinuri also has a patent. The Shizuoka Prefectural Institute of Industrial Technology has acquired it.

蜻蛉塗i (seireinuri) Patent No. 29581, June 1916

 

蜻蛉塗（せいれいぬり） 特許 29581 号 大正 5 年（1916）6 月

 

Sources.

(It is a PDF in Japanese, but you can translate it by copying the text.) (It's on the first line of page 2.)

https://www.city.shizuoka.lg.jp/documents/4943/000862765.pdf

 

Edited June 24 by Number99

[stan]

8 hours ago, Number99 said:

The website's language setting is switched from English to Japanese for viewing.

I have copied and quoted the second paragraph from the top.

This is simple Japanese for customers. Translation is left to you.

 

艶やかに照り返す発色と光沢。

画期的な塗り技法。

「玉虫塗」は、艶やかに照り返す発色と光沢が特徴の、仙台生まれの漆芸です。光の加減で色合いが微妙に変わる、その豊麗な色調がタマムシの羽根に似ていることからこの名が付けられました。「銀粉」を撒き、その上から「染料」を加えた透明な漆を塗り上げるという独特の技法で、これまでの漆器にはない、鮮やかな色と輝きを生み出しています。

 

東北工芸製作所は、1939年に玉虫塗の特許実施権を得て、国内・海外向けに多くの商品を製作してきました。1985年には宮城県の伝統的工芸品の指定を受け、現在は献上品、記念品などでも多数ご注文をいただき、仙台の特産品として親しまれています。伝統的な品々を作る一方、現代のライフスタイルに合うさまざまな新商品の開発も続けています。

 

This is the same website I linked to above.

http://www.t-kogei.co.jp/tamamushinuri/

 

 

I agree, you are right.

It can be discouraging to receive it in hand, or it can be in better condition than expected.

 

Many thanks for your instruction.

I would have liked to know such information.

Glad to get an explanation from you.

 

敬白

 

P.S.

seireinuri also has a patent. The Shizuoka Prefectural Institute of Industrial Technology has acquired it.

蜻蛉塗i (seireinuri) Patent No. 29581, June 1916

 

蜻蛉塗（せいれいぬり） 特許 29581 号 大正 5 年（1916）6 月

 

Sources.

(It is a PDF in Japanese, but you can translate it by copying the text.) (It's on the first line of page 2.)

https://www.city.shizuoka.lg.jp/documents/4943/000862765.pdf

 

 

In Japan there are two types of patents, exclusive and non-exclusive licenses. Anyone anywhere with a non-exclusice license can apply a patented process. This would be especially true in the 1950s. That said, anyone anywhere could also apply a tamenuri-type finish anywhere anytime.

 

Other than the sellers description there is no indication it has a tamenuri finish. In fact, there is no indication the pen was made in Miyagi, Tokyo, Japan, or on Mars.

 

Frankly, it is a typical 1950s noname Japanese pen with some decoration. The red decoration could be an okime-type process. We will never know.

 

The nib is probably better than many of the mass-produced models. Should FPOJ be correct Kamakami-Giken made them to order. Should this be the same Kamakami Seisakusho that made nibs for Maruzen it is a further indication of quality. Just my opinion.

[Number99]

On 6/25/2024 at 8:40 AM, stan said:

In Japan there are two types of patents, exclusive and non-exclusive licenses. Anyone anywhere with a non-exclusice license can apply a patented process. This would be especially true in the 1950s. That said, anyone anywhere could also apply a tamenuri-type finish anywhere anytime.

The patent for Tamamushi Nuri was granted in 1932 by the National Industry Research Institute of Industrial Arts in Sendai City, and in 1933, TOHOKU KOGEI CO., Ltd. was established with the support of the National Industry Research Institute of Industrial Arts

 and Tohoku Imperial University. This factory is a workshop that was established with the support of the government for the production and popularization of Tamamushinuri.

*1

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jssd/50/0/50_0_29/_article/download/-char/ja

 

Tamamushinuri was designated as a Traditional Industrial Art by Miyagi Prefecture on May 22, 1985. The designated area is Sendai City.

There are no other manufacturers designated by Miyagi Prefecture except TOHOKU KOGEI CO. Ltd.

*2

https://www.pref.miyagi.jp/soshiki/shinsan/16tamamusi.html

 

There is no record of the National Industry Research Institute of Industrial Arts granting a patent license to any establishment other than TOHOKU KOGEI CO.

*3

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jssds/2/1/2_KJ00007040208/_pdf/-char/ja (PDF)

 

In conclusion, it can be said that TOHOKU KOGEI CO., Ltd. has been manufacturing Tamamushi Nuri reasonably, legally, exclusively, and consistently by obtaining a patent license from the National Industry Research Institute of Industrial Arts, the owner of the patent. 

 

This fact can logically be traced back to the time when Tohoku Kogei obtained the patent license.

If there was another manufacturer who obtained the patent license other than TOHOKU KOGEI, Miyagi Prefecture would have cut off that manufacturer. 

This is something that the local government should not do.

 

*1.

Shoko Akiko, On Tamamushi Lacquer Ware, Summary Collection of Research Presentations of the Japan Society for the Study of Design, Japan. (This document could not be archived, but a similar statement can be found in the PDF reference below.)

 

*2.

Miyagi Prefecture website.

 

*3.

The policy of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Technical Guidance Center for the promotion of Tohoku's craft industry in the period of its Sendai Head Office. (PDF)

 

Other references (PDF)  Miyagi Prefecture Designated Traditional Industrial Art Tamamushi Nuri.

Available in English.

There are descriptions that suggest that tamamushi nuri was an early technique, hon-ursi hand-painted with the addition of a mass-produced type or combined type of cashew or urethane spraying technique. It is possible that the spraying technique was used rather than screen printing.

 

Supplement.

The first patent may have expired, but it appears that TOHOKU KOGEI has obtained patents for several additional techniques. In addition, TOHOKU KOGEI has legally obtained the right to use the name Tamamusi-nuri by obtaining the designation of traditional craft from Miyagi Prefecture. Unless Miyagi Prefecture designates another company as a traditional craft, TOHOKU KOGEI will be the exclusive manufacturer of Tamamushinuri.

 

Correction. 

The machine translation of "国立工芸指導所" is corrected to "Industry Research Institute of Industrial Arts", which is the translation obtained from official documents.

Other translations follow the deepl translation.

 

 

 

Edited June 25 by Number99
Corrected mistranslations and added English reference materials. supplement.

[stan]

The length of a patent in Japan is 20 years, so anything before 2004 is in public domain.
If the name "Tamamushi nuri" is not protected, everybody can use it
If the name is protected, everybody can use it by just giving it a different name

Noted that "it appears that TOHOKU KOGEI has obtained patents for several additional techniques". What are the patent numbers? They can be researched.

 

Parcival has a wonderful pen purchased at an excellent price. I'm certain he appreciates the history and arcana of Japanese pen production. If there is further interest in Tohoku Kogei we can provide some links explaining the application process and copies of a few old catalogues. Please let us know.

 

[Number99]

1 hour ago, stan said:

The length of a patent in Japan is 20 years, so anything before 2004 is in public domain.
If the name "Tamamushi nuri" is not protected, everybody can use it
If the name is protected, everybody can use it by just giving it a different name

Different methods than patents have been used to give rights to the Tamamushi Nuri name.

I explained that above.

It is the same method used to protect the name Wajima Nuri.

 

1 hour ago, stan said:

Noted that "it appears that TOHOKU KOGEI has obtained patents for several additional techniques". What are the patent numbers? They can be researched.

The patent numbers for the additional patents are listed on the TOHOKU KOGEI website. It relates to a technique for applying Tamami-nuri to glass products.

 

[stan]

Thank you for the information regarding tamemushi-nuri and its production in Miyagi Prefecture. Interesting information. Your research is appreciated.

 

I should have researched tamamushi earlier and did not. My fault. There is reference to the finish in my makie books.

 

Tamamushi refers to the Chrysochroa fulgidissima, "jewel beetle" or Yamato tamamushi in Japanese (ヤマトタマムシ) (Wiki description). The finish comes from the lustrous sheen and apparent depth of the urushi coating that can come from silver dust mixed with the urushi. Whether this is, or still is, patentable and can only be provided by one factory is irrelevant.

 

Although tamamushi specifically refers to the beetle, tamamushi more colloquially refers to an iridescence. This is what the seller represents in mentioning tamamushi and not a factory in Miyagi. Artists in Wajima, considered by some the center of quality urushi and makie work in Japan, for example, are also known to provide a tamanushi decoration. Tamanushi does not necessarily refer to a specific additive to the urushi. It also refers to tamamushigai, a type of abalone that can provide the same deep lustrous finish.

 

Should connection to a specific factory be desired much greater in-depth research is required. Perhaps contacting the factory and inquiring about the fountain pen production in the 1950s or acquaintance with the artist might be in order.

 

For now, it is a very nice pen the new owner can enjoy for many years to come. It is a pen to show off and be especially proud in owning.

 

There is wonderful video online of the owner of Wancher Pens describing their production of a tamamushi finish fountain pen made in Wajima here. Whether it is the same finish or not as the pen in question is not known. Point is they use the same name.

 

I am not an expert on makie. There are several Forum participants who are and may be able to add more information. My specialty, if it can be called that, is 1950s and earlier Japanese pens with a special interest in carved silver and urushi-clad ebonite types. When my pen business was in business we bought and sold over 10,000 Japanese pens. I'm tooting my horn because I can.

 

I have written in the past of the Japanese pen business in the 1950s. There were many small jobbers who bought and resold pens, assembled pens with nibs and from parts from various sources, and hired out-of-work or under-worked artists to decorate pens. There is no count of pen companies in Tokyo but, there were many. And, many could easily have produced this pen.