Mitsui Fine Arts
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Mitsui Fine Art discovers and acquires works of Japanese art, craft, and design that have a deep connection with your contemporary lifestyle.
05/11/2023
24 + 3 stamps/chops/seals in a box
It is chops/seals in a box from early 1900, used in business. There are 12 oblong and 12 elliptic ones. They all have two kanji Characters. Every 12 Oblong has a character spring (春) and one of the 12 signs of the Japanese/Chinese zodiac to indicate years. Every 12 Elliptic one has a character autumn (秋) and one of the 12 signs of the Japanese/Chinese zodiac. As such, there are 24 chops to indicate two seasons of 12 years. I hope my explanation is clear. (by the way, unfortunately, the face of the +3 chops is illegible.)
It is equivalent to today's self-inking date stamps, such as in the last photo, which also is becoming obsolete. It is interesting to imagine how people in a century ahead will look at it.
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Our Story
Mitsui Fine Arts is uniquely positioned to show you the way to build your art collection or find you a single art object to cherish. I source and sell Japanese art, early craft, and design.
My family (Endo) and that of my late husband (Mitsui) have been deeply embedded in the enlightened merchant class of Kyoto since the 18th century. Once known as the Machi-shu, this facet of society has always been closely involved in the Way of Tea.
I’m one of the very last generation to have received training in the aesthetic traditions. This came about partly because I grew up in Kyoto, which was spared the bombing of WWII and the subsequent rebuilding that rapidly modernized the rest of Japan. In Kyoto, the old customs endured. And, because I’m an only child, my father and grandfather raised me as they might have raised a male heir to our family kimono business, imbuing me with a deep and instinctive understanding of our art and culture.
The time feels right for Mitsui Fine Arts to connect a new audience with the Japanese artworks I’ve been pursuing all my life. Today, I sense a highly sophisticated appetite for excellent works of art, craft, and design attuned with the high culture of old Kyoto -- and a desire to enjoy them comfortably in contemporary life.
Whether you seek one singular object or wish to build a collection, trust me to be your guide.
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San Rafael, CA
