Antique Japanese Meiji Era Fish Market Kanban Carved Lacquer Wood Signboard 118"L LS#044

Japanese Fish Market Wholesale Kanban Carved Lacquer Wood Signboard Fishing Vessel Names Meiji 118"L

Monumental Japanese fish market kanban (看板) — carved and lacquered wood signboard from a wholesale fish merchant establishment, listing affiliated fishing vessels

Antique Japanese Meiji Era, late 19th–early 20th century

At nearly ten feet in length, this is a kanban of large scale from a wholesale fish merchant (uogashi) establishment. The central cartouche, lacquered in gold on a green ground, reads 魚大 (Uodai / Gyodai — "Great Fish Wholesaler"), flanked by columns of smaller gold-lacquered text identifying the establishment or proprietor. The surrounding registers — the dense upper row of smaller characters and the bold two- and three-character names filling both flanking panels — record the names of the fishing vessels (gyosen) whose catch the house handled. Names including 丸健、松茂、松徳、富松、又豊、柳栃 and others follow the terse naming conventions of Japanese fishing boats, many carrying the suffix 丸 (maru), the universal vessel suffix, or the abbreviated shorthand typical of registered working boats. This type of public roster — a formal acknowledgment of commercial relationships between wholesale house and fleet — was a standard feature of major fish market establishments, where such affiliations carried both commercial and social weight.

Kanban were created from wood, bamboo, iron, paper, fabric, gold leaf, and lacquer, evoking the frenetic market scenes of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Japan. Like any form of ephemera, relatively few old examples remain — destroyed by fire, corroded by weather, or discarded — and few museums collected them as they were not considered fine art. A piece of this scale, legibility, and completeness is exceptionally rare.

The board is constructed in framed panel form, the ground finished in dark lacquer with relief-carved characters lacquered in black and gold throughout. Gilt metal corner fittings anchor the frame; gilt horizontal hardware at center top and bottom provided the original mounting points.

• Type: Kanban (看板) — wholesale fish market signboard with fishing vessel affiliate roster
• Central inscription: 魚大 (Uodai / Gyodai — Great Fish Wholesaler)
• Construction: Carved and lacquered wood panel in framed surround; gold and black lacquer on dark ground; gilt metal corner and mounting hardware
• Dimensions: 21.5" H × 118" L (55 × 300 cm)
• Period: Meiji, late 19th–early 20th century

Condition: Very Good

For further information see Kanban: Shop Signs of Japan by Leah Sneider, Weatherhill, Inc., 1983, published in association with the Japan Society of New York and the American Federation of Arts, for an exhibition that toured the United States.