What’s In a Pocchiri? Part 2

This feature got a great amount of feedback, so let’s keep shining a spotlight on the treasures of the karyukai! For more information about why most materials are chosen and a bit of back story click here ^^

Image courtesy of Yukari Kato. Materials: Coral, Rose Quartz, Jade, Citrine, Garnet/Tourmaline, Diamond/Cubic Zirconia, and Enamel Motifs: Lucky Treasure Ship Owned By: Masunoya (桝之矢) in Pontocho What else could represent the treasures of the gods better than a treasure boat filled with them!? This specific type of ship is known as a Takarabune (宝船), which translates as “Treasure Ship” and is an emblem of the Shichifukujin (七福神), who are the Seven Lucky Gods. The materials used here are all interesting, but let’s step back a bit so that we can understand it all a bit better. This pocchiri is old, and “old” for a pocchiri is anything over 30+ years since they didn’t really come into prominence until the 1950s. There’s images of Masunoya girls wearing this piece as far back as the 1980s, so clearly it has been well loved. The first place that we can easily see wear is on the enamel. A few decades ago it was actually fairly common to see some enamel on pocchiri, and even a few pocchiri were made exclusively from enamel by skilled artisans. Nowadays instead of enamel we tend to see metals and shells account for these colors in a bid to be even more extravagant than those of the past. The enamel used for this piece is white for the sails and a dark, almost bronze colored brown for the base of the boat and the mast. You can see where constant use over the years has rubbed away some of the enamel from the sides to show its silver exterior. The small coral flower on the bottom left of the piece has also been chipped, likely due to an accident from brushing up against things over many decades. However, pocchiri are given the respect for the craftsmanship that initially went into them, so unless a very important piece breaks or falls off then it’s left as is to appreciate its age and the story that it carries. Without a detailed look at the piece it’s impossible to know what all of the gems are for sure, but the majority remain easy to spot. The large tear drop shaped rose quartz stands as a focal point along with the natural shaped coral that appears to be holding a citrine in its branches. At the top and bottom of the sail we have two dark green jade cabochons and what is either a garnet or possibly a tourmaline at the bottom. To show different colors of coral we also see a small coral bead at the top of the rose quartz, the aforementioned carved coral flower, and a dark orange coral cabochon on the bottom right. The three clear stones are a bit of a mystery as diamonds aren’t unheard of for pocchiri, but that many and of such high quality definitely are. However, I do want to lean more towards cubic zirconia as diamonds are so incredibly reflective that it’s practically impossible to see through them to their mount, but on the smallest stone I can clearly the see the bottom of the mount and we can get a hint of that brown enamel. This won’t really affect much except for the overall value, but since that doesn’t really matter here since we’re more interested in its craftsmanship rather than its cost. Like last time, here’s an image of the piece being worn by maiko Shinaju (志奈寿):

Image courtesy of Yocca.