Where did this pendant come from?

The back stamp is a mess, even under 40x magnification. I bought a baggie of necklaces in a charity thrift because I saw this in there and got curious. The bag paid for itself and then some; it was all stuff from last season they wanted to ditch, and the chain on this is marked 14k. It's mass produced and short, so into the melt pile it goes. But...what's the pendant? It think it's either plastic or ceramic; the sample size makes it hard to be sure. It might be another Russian one...?

 

Wonder if it is a button that someone made into jewelry. Looks rather current.
Kind of cute.
Sorry can't read the mark at all.

 

Perhaps Japan? I bought a ring with a similar ceramic ware there in the 1960s. And here's something along the same lines from Japan that I picked up with a quick internet search.

Debora

 

Someone else is going to know all about this ware but in meantime... Research "toshikane arita."

Debora

 

It's certainly possible.

 

Don't know if it amounts to anything, but it looks like the bale on the one Deborah posted is the same as the one on yours evelyb. It's a different sort of bale that I don't recall seeing.

 

Here's a blog post about them that says they are difficult to research. But it has some information. And you found the phrase right away. Kudos for that!

http://blog.montecristosjewelry.com/post/10490224418/toshikane-arita-porcelain-buttons-jewelry

 

I think it looks vaguely like the Coach handbag company's insignia (A US clothing and leather goods company). The insignia is a horse drawn carriage.

Edit: Ignore me--I didn't catch the earlier information about the 14K chain. Clearly needed more coffee before posting!

 

Nice, @evelyb30

I'm sure you already dug up what you need to know and then some, but here's a little bit more:

I've been lucky enough to come across a toshikane bracelet like this. Took me a minute (or two) to figure out what I had. Below is not mine:


Now this, I believe these are buttons



They're cast in very fine porcelain and hand-painted exquisitely. These hotei buttons show up in 1947 in "The Complete Button Book" as ceramic, not even arita.

Toshikane also made Salt & Peppers and other decorative items, all extremely eye appealing, but the jewelry is the most sought after.

 

That is the toshikane mark.

 

Correction: there is a mark in an oval cartouch, but this is used on finer jewelry.


Here's yours described as dogwood

 

Sweet! But they are not dogwood flowers.

I came across one of those Toshikane bracelets with the orchids and mums last summer, too bad for me the seller knew what he had

 

I do believe we have a winner. I went to church at 10AM and didn't get home until 2:30 after services and errands.

I just sold the buttons this winter, btw, but mine were new in box. As I recall the sale turned $7 into over $100. I wasn't too sad to see them go.