Vintage Japanese Necklace

JE has a wonderful 1900s vintage Japanese necklace composed of faces of benevolent gods. The links are porcelain on sterling.

Firstly, the faces (and the gods they belong to) are important to Japanese mythology; they are the Seven Gods of Fortune. They are pictured on kimono toggles called netsuke, and in woodcuts since the 1600s. Although this necklace pictures them individually, they are often grouped together on a ship at sea, a lovely ship of treasures. The tradition says that those treasures are longevity, prosperity, popularity, integrity, dignity, kindness, and magnanimity. These blessings are bestowed by the gods that personify each virtue. Although the Seven Lucky Gods are immortal, the gifts they bestow upon a good person was “discovered” in 1500s by the Buddhist priest of the powerful Shogun Mikawa. The Seven Gods, called the ‘Shichifukujin’ have been recognized in art – and it seems, in dreams – for over 500 years. Let us meet the Gods and what they embody; then we will meet them in dreams. (Before I get too far, the value of the necklace is $500.)

In order of the necklace, here are the Seven Gods:

1. Ebisu, a god of Japanese origin, who reigns over fishermen, farmers, merchants and stands for integrity. Ebisu is pictured on Sapporo Beer cans! Ebisu is celebrated at his shrine in Osaka each year in a race in which the fastest runners compete. Those who win are the “lucky men” and are blessed with a year of good fortune.
2. Daikokuten is the god of wealth, prosperity and agriculture, akin to the Hindu Shiva, who can destroy and create.
3. Benzaiten is kindness, and this is a goddess, the only female, and rules over wisdom and music.
4. Bishamonten is dignity, a warrior god.
5. Fukurokuju is popularity and good luck for and with children.
6. Jurōjin is longevity and, pictured with a deer, he cures illnesses.
7. Hotei is magnanimity, and he carries a sack to give to the poor; he grants wishes.

The necklace featuring these lucky gods was made in the 1^st or 2^nd quarter of the 20^th century by the Toshikane Company, in the rich porcelain-making town called Arita. Toshikane Company designed sculptural objects prior to World War II, and their chief designer/ co-founder was
KenzoMinami.  

After the war, in 1947, Japanese companies were allowed to resume private export. It was then these necklaces (and buttons made in faces of the gods) were sold as souvenirs through military base exchanges in Japan and Guam to Western servicemen stationed in postwar Japan. Surprisingly, the Toshikane Company continued to make “Gods of Fortune” buttons, in the style of Japanese Noh Masks, till 1975. The necklace is stamped “made in “occupied Japan”. The Seven Gods necklace is circa 1940s, happy porcelain faces set upon silver, linked with a silver chain. 

These masks on jewelry are prized, as the gods are powerful and immortal. They have been celebrated for centuries in Edo (now Tokyo), where pilgrimages to visit the shrines of each of the Seven Lucky Gods are undertaken in the new year. Wear this necklace to undertake the walking “Yahaka” pilgrimage to each of the seven shrines. If you cannot visit the seven shrines, the traditional practice is to invite these gods into your home. This is done as a custom; one must sketch or draw each god in their pleasure ship on paper, and on New Year’s Eve place that sketch under your pillow. This encourages the lucky “first dream” of the New Year. 

The tradition of “hatsuyume” (first dream) indicates that the vision you see as you doze at the start of the year will predict the next 12 months. Hatsuyume originated in the 1660s with the first Edo shogun. One of Japan’s most powerful rulers, he lived in the shadow of Mt. Fuji, Japan’s tallest mountain, and had the fastest hawks for his hunt, and had the earliest seasonal purple eggplants to eat. 

Every New Year, hawkers in the streets sell sketches of the Seven Lucky Gods in their ship. This is because not everyone can draw, and to have such a work of art – called a ‘takarabune’ picture – under your pillow increases the chances of a great dream of:

a. Mount Fuji

b. Hawks

c. Eggplants

The Seven Gods increase the chance that you will have dreams of these three, and if you want added protection, ask for a sketch of the Kanji Monster who eats bad dreams.

The value of the lucky gods necklace is $500, but if JE has a set with hair ornaments and earrings and a bracelet, the value is $1,000.