Maruichi Shigaraki Ware Coin Purse Tanuki Figurine
£75.00
The coin purse the tanuki holds here is not incidental. In Japanese folk tradition the tanuki is associated with financial luck, and the gamaguchi — the clasp-frame coin purse whose name this form takes — is the object that holds it. This tanuki grips one…
Out of stock
Description
Description
The coin purse the tanuki holds here is not incidental. In Japanese folk tradition the tanuki is associated with financial luck, and the gamaguchi — the clasp-frame coin purse whose name this form takes — is the object that holds it. This tanuki grips one with both paws, a large golden purse with a lattice pattern pressed to its chest, the clasp at the top and a small tag hanging from it. The posture is possessive in a way that reads as cheerful rather than acquisitive: this is a figure that has already decided things will go well. Maruichi produces it in Shigaraki, one of Japan’s Six Ancient Kilns, in the coarse iron-rich clay the region has fired since the medieval period. For a new business, a new home, or anyone navigating a financial transition, this is a considered choice — fortune held close, offered as a gift.
