Vintage Japanese Fuchin Scroll Weights Calcite Stone Silk Tassels Pair 4cm

Vintage Japanese 袱鎮 Fuchin — Paired Scroll Weights with Polished Calcite Spheres, Gilt Metal Caps & Silk Tassels, Showa Period

Japan, Showa Period (mid-20th century)

Dimensions: 4 cm sphere diameter / 10″ total hanging length

A well-matched pair of Japanese fuchin (袱鎮), the traditional weighted ornaments used to anchor the lower roller of a kakejiku (掛軸) hanging scroll. Each weight is centered on a large polished stone sphere in cream to blush-peach calcite, exhibiting subtle natural banding and a warm translucency characteristic of fine-quality worked stone. The spheres are drilled and strung on twisted dark brown silk cord, the two hanging from a shared suspension loop.

Fuchin have been used in Japanese scroll display since the Heian period, evolving from purely functional weights into refined craft objects in their own right. By the Showa era, quality fuchin in natural stone with silk tassels were produced for the established art and tea ceremony market, where attention to every element of scroll presentation was considered an expression of aesthetic sensibility (美意識 bii shiki).

Condition: Very good vintage condition; stone spheres show fine polish with minor natural inclusions; silk tassels intact and full with slight age softening to cord; gilt metal caps retain good surface detail.

A handsome and display-ready pair of Showa-period fuchin in natural calcite and silk — a refined finishing accessory for any kakejiku scroll, and a collectible object in its own right.