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Circa: 1909
Manufacturer: Masahiro Furuya Co
A very rare, and beautifully hand painted hat pin holder, featuring the Palace of Agriculture Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition 1909.
All designs on this wonderful piece are hand painted. The colors are rich and vibrant, and many of the designs are outlined in gold moriage.
In gold cartouché, the Palace of Agriculture is displayed on the front of the holder. Just below it, a lone iris stands out among a bed of tall grasses, while a Japanese girl sits quietly nearby.
On the back, a trio of lovely pink flowers with gold moriage trim, grace the top border. Below them, a scenic view of a pair of homes in the hills beside the ocean, and a flock of birds in the sky.
The top of the holder is painted in the popular rust color, with a scatter of gold stars. There are 13 holes for hat pins. One large center hole, 4 small ones surrounding that, and 8 medium size ones around the end.
This lovely hat pin holder was produced by Masahiro Furuya Co in Yokohama, Japan. It stands 4 1/4" high, and is 2 3/8" wide at the base. It is in very good condition.
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A brief note of history:
Masahiro Furuya was born in 1863, and came to Seattle, WA from Yokohama in 1890.
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| He was an educated man, and he first worked as an apprentice tailor in a grocery store in St Louis. In 1892, he opened his own grocery store, and then in 1896, he opened a branch of his store in Yokohama. In 1900, he built the Furuya Building in Seattle to house the main office and retail outlet of the M. Furuya Company, which was originally an import-export firm. This allowed him to expand his inventory, and he also sold Japanese art there. Masahiro Furuya, for a time, was a successful and very influential business leader, and was once considered the pre-eminent Japanese businessman in the Pacific Northwest. |
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