Chinese cigarette box, maker CLK

[EmmaW]

Please could someone help identify the maker of the Chinese cigarette box below. I have been unable to find the maker CLK and would appreciate the help. And if any kind soul knows enough Chinese to translate the characters on the front that would be completely amazing!

Thank you all so much

Emma

[davidross]

Hi Emma

The engraving on the front says Dongtian, which a standard dictionary translates as "paradise; a beautiful, heavenly place; a fairyland." It might refer to an actual place, such as a lush water-filled mountain cavern, but more likely here it is the "fairyland," i.e., an imaginary place in which ascetics / hermits reside. It would be the place where a kindly soul goes, if there is indeed such a thing as a transmigratory self.

The retailer CLK is a mystery to me. The mark appears to be either double-stamped or overstamped, as there seems to be half of a second K after the first. The master's mark in Chinese can be phoneticized Lim Ki, and while generally Chinese retailers marked either in Chinese or in Roman alphabet and only rarely in both, I wonder if this is such an exception. In other words, I wonder if the LK of CLK corresponds to Lim Ki. This is mere musing on my part, so please do not take it anything close to gospel truth. Hopefully someone who has seen this mark documented elsewhere will provide us with a more satisfactory answer.

Regards
DR

[dognose]

Hi Emma,

David's "mere musing" is right on track. I'm informed by Adrien von Ferscht that the maker is Lee Kam.

Here is an example of the same chop mark:



The dual marking usually occurs with small workshops that operated a front retail store.

Trev.

[davidross]

Trev,

Many thanks for confirming a hunch through AvF and providing the correct version of the phoneticization.

All of my wistful years in Fairyland might amount to something after all!

And needless to say, here is another mark to include when the CES page is next updated.

Cheers
David

[EmmaW]

Dear David and Trev

Thanks so much for your help. And David thanks for the explanation on the meaning of the inscription - doesn't look like such a bad place for a soul (real or otherwise) to end up.

Best wishes

Emma