Wednesday 8 August 2012

Sudoh and Co.



Lowry refers to an advert by the K. Suzuki & Co. in his novel Ultramarine during Dana's drift around Dairen in Chapter 3 when Dana enters a cinema sees businesses being promoted on the screen. It is not impossible that adverts for the Japanese mainland may have been advertised in Japanese occupied Manchuria. Or it might be Lowry simply transposing Kobe into Dairen:

Sudoh and Co. - manufacturer and exporter of curios and vases, porcelain and satsuma ware, teas sets, screens, bronze wares, pearls.....Cloisonne lacquered wares, tortoiseshell wares. 10, 11, & 12 Chickaramachi 4 chome, Nagoya, P.O. Box No. 2 Akatsuka. Tel. 586 Higashi. Factories: Chikusa-cho, Nagoya, and Mino, Seto, Owari.... We deal Production of our Own and all Round value Call and see them Everything so Lovely we'll give you A1 satisfaction Inspection invited call and see them Now is best chance.

The spelling, punctuation etc are Lowry's. It is possible that he either memorised and noted later hence mistakes, noted at the time hence mistakes or perhaps noted after reading a pamphlet or book. Lowry may have picked up a pamphlet similar to Some Suggestions for Souvenir Seekers produced by the Japanese Government Railway. The pamphlet gives descriptions and photo examples of numerous types of pottery and porcelain, including where they were made, it features a list of Souvenir Dealers. The names are given in English without the Japanese equivalency since the pamphlet was aimed at English-speaking tourists.

K. Suzuki & Co. (Kichigoro Suzuki) was a Japanese manufacturer and dealer in Bishu Porcelain.The head office was No. 10, 11, & 12 Chikaramachi 4 chome, Nagoya.Tel. No. 586 Higashi L. D. They had a branch office at No. 8 Kitanagasa-dori 3 chome, Kobe. Tel. No. 815 Sannomiya L. D. Telegraphic Address: Yamasuboshi, Kobe Codes Used: A, B, C, 5th Edition & Private.

Suzuki Kichigoro was a manufacturer and dealer in Bishu (Owari) (present day Aichi) porcelain ware. Bishu is another name for Owari and Bishu porcelain is Owari porcelain and regarding Bishu (Owari) porcelain, it is of a very white color.

The artist Suzuki Kichigoro was a highly noted sculpturer and carver.  He was a very diverse artist and worked in several mediums and mixed his mediums: ivory, tortoise shell, cloisonne, lacquer, copper, gold, silver, atimony, bronze, zinc, leather, wood, bamboo, and porcelain.  His created art works were: sculptures, vases, trays, tobacco containers, mantel ornaments, card plates, censers, tablets, boxes, match boxes, paper weights, pen plates, dust pans, flower pots, ladies bags, dresser ware, cloisonne ware, and makiye ware.


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