Can you help?

[Lanieniven]

I have been looking for a while for the hallmarks on this cigarette case and would really appreciate any info at all thanks in advance x

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

Your images need to be larger, especially those of the marks.

Trev.

[Lanieniven]

Hi thanks for having me .. believe it or not that was the 5th time I tried after it kept telling me they where too big lol will try again x

[Lanieniven]

any better?

[Lanieniven]

[Lanieniven]

think 3 claws

[Lanieniven]

[davidross]

That's a very sharp close-up photo of the marks, but I believe it is oriented upside-down.

The marks appear to be a rebus rather than Chinese characters per se; the heart-shaped mark (which would look like a spade right-side up) is probably a stylized version of the character for metal 金 and the eye-shaped mark is indeed an eye (the eyebrow should be on top) 目. This trademark could be either 目金 (probably Megane, a homonym for "eyeglasses") or 金目 (probably Kinme, "red snapper" [the fish]).

Through the first half of the 20th century, small Japanese shops sometimes adopted a rebus as a trademark, often a play on words involving the shop owner's name and the type of product offered. There were tens of thousands of such shops, most lasted only a generation or two, and they are not well documented, so the trail goes cold quickly.

There appears to be no silver mark, and the dragon on the lid looks molded rather than hand-hammered repousse. This would suggest white metal or silverplate rather than solid silver. Of course, with object in hand, it can be easily tested.

This is at best educated guesswork, but perhaps it will suggest a further line of research.

Regards
DR

[Lanieniven]

Thank you for your help, I didnt think it was silver, I thought the mark on the back looked like a guitar lol, I kept it from stuff a friend had when he died as I liked it and use it, just thought I should check it wasnt an antique as it goes to the bar with me ;-) I shall see if I can find more but thank you again.