NOT a Vintage Asian Jade stamp!SOLVED

thrillathahunt · Dec 18, 2010

Picked this for 25 cents. I know nothing about it except it looks like some kind of stamp.

Looks like it is hand carved. It is rather heavy, I was thinking some kind of stone.

Japanese...Chinese?
Any Ideas?

I guess what I am most interested in knowing is what it says.

trikikiwi · Dec 18, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

It appears to be a Chinese Foo dog chop (seal). Could be a personal or company seal.
Not necessarily that old, but an interpretation of the script might help age it.
Sorry, can't be more helpful.
Mike

kc10bull · Dec 19, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

After a little research and 4 years in Japan. Trust me my Japanese is really bad but here's what I know. Rotate your seal / chop / stamp like my image. Remember this is a seal / chop / stamp. Japanese is read from top to bottom, right to left. Language is Kanji. Not sure of age. Also since it's a seal / chop / stamp remember the image will be reversed once stamped onto a piece of paper.
Top left character Ki, Second left Character YA, Top right KU, Second right I, not sure on the bottom 2 left characters or bottom right character. They are not numbers

thrillathahunt · Dec 19, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

Thanks for the info so far guys. I really appreciate it. This is getting very interesting.

stefen · Dec 19, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

Since the stamp portion looks like hard rubber, I would assume that it's more contemporary...

trixie charger · Dec 19, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

Definitely not very old, the cut lines are too sharp and look almost unfinished. Probably made for the Tourist trade.

thrillathahunt · Dec 19, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

I think the key to unlocking the mystery of this piece is what it says on the rubber stamp. :icon_scratch:

DCMatt · Dec 20, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

kc10bull said:
After a little research and 4 years in Japan. Trust me my Japanese is really bad but here's what I know. Rotate your seal / chop / stamp like my image. Remember this is a seal / chop / stamp. Japanese is read from top to bottom, right to left. Language is Kanji. Not sure of age. Also since it's a seal / chop / stamp remember the image will be reversed once stamped onto a piece of paper.
Top left character Ki, Second left Character YA, Top right KU, Second right I, not sure on the bottom 2 left characters or bottom right character. They are not numbers

The characters are Japanese Katakana. This is the syllabary used in Japanese language to indicate non-Japanese words. For instance, bread is Japan is called PA-N. It is the French word pan and is always spelled with Katakana indication. Same with A-RU-BA-I-TO which is the Japanese word for "work", in this case borrowed from the German.

Your stamp says: WA-I-TO KI-ya-RE-N. (The smaller ya goes with the KI to make a Kya sound.) If "translated" to English, in my mind it says "White Karen". I can only speculate that it was custom made for some American Japan-o-phile - a white girl named Karen. :dontknow:

DCMatt

stefen · Dec 20, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?

Need to remove the word VINTAGE from the title...

Unless Karen is older :coffee2:

thrillathahunt · Dec 20, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?SOLVED

Thanks Matt.

DCMatt · Dec 21, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?SOLVED

thrillathahunt said:
Thanks Matt.

It didn't occur to me until last night when I got up to see the eclipse that it probably is just the woman's name - Karen White. She may have been trying to mimic the "old style" right to left Japanese writing used before WWII. Not much Japanese has been written that way since then. I don't think your item is that old.

DCMatt

crazyjarhead · Dec 21, 2010

Re: Vintage Asian Jade stamp?SOLVED

Since the phrase is laid out from top to bottom, the Japanese read from right to left making it Karen White. I foun this link on the net and don't know if it is related or not http://www.karen-white.com/books.shtml . As far as the stamp goes I don't believe it is old.