Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ladybranch, post: 122062, member: 44&quot;]Welcome to the forums!</p><p><br /></p><p>I really really know nothing about Kabuki bells or any Japanese bells. I have looked at a couple of Japanese porcelain marks sites hoping to identify some of the Japanese character marks on this bell. The only thing I can say is that the 2 characters in the oblong cartouche at the bottom of the markings is some sort of a lucky pharse in Japanese. On the left side is the character Kisha for Lucky. At the moment don&#039;t know what the character on the right. The phrase would be read something Lucky or Lucky something. Here are the characters for Lucky Omen: 吉祥 or 吉兆.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now the face on this bell could be portraying the face found on the Darma dolls good luck charms.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Daruma, or Daruma Dolls, are a Japanese good luck charm. They are a highly stylized representation of a 6th monk known as Bodhidharma. ...</p><p>...</p><p>&quot;The farmers put pressure on the temple to come up with better good luck charms whenever a season failed. This resulted in the good luck charm innovation that produced Daruma.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;... They are hollow papier-mache charms that come in a variety of styles that are usually cute. They are traditionally sold without pupils. You fill in one pupil when you set a goal and fill the other when the goal is achieved.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is more on the Daruma dolls with pic. As they are used as good luck charms, possibly this bell was considered a good luck charm, especially with the character for lucky on it.</p><p><a href="http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/daruma" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/daruma" rel="nofollow">http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/daruma</a></p><p><br /></p><p>--- Susan[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in