Inscription and seal on a bolt of silk

[Tomoko Sakomura]

Dear PMJS colleagues,

I'd love to seek your expertise on a question from a colleague. Three photos are attached to this message. My colleague wrote to me with the following:

• Philadelphia Seaport Museum is preparing for an exhibition on Philadelphia’s role in the China trade as part of the big semiquincentennial celebrations happening in 2026.
• The curator is trying to translate an inscription on a bolt of silk that was formerly in the collection of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum. He thought it was Chinese but I think it could be Japanese. The museum, which no longer exists, collected industrial products from around the world (including Asia) as references for local manufacturers and tradesmen.
• I’m wondering if it could be written using a type of Japanese merchants’ numbering system (Chinese merchants had one called Suzhou numbers or 草碼).

Does the inscription read 長政 十月五日? Any thoughts on the seal and possible numbering/inscription system?

Thank you so much for your help.

Best,

Tomoko

--

Tomoko Sakomura (she/her)
Professor of Art History
Swarthmore College

[萬井 良大]

Dear Tomoko,

I also believe the inscription reads “長政　十月五日.”

As for the seal, the left two characters likely read “長政,” while the right two may indicate a family or clan name.

Could this be a collector’s seal? Its placement doesn’t suggest a signature seal (rakkan). I was wondering—would a “red” seal typically be used for a collector’s mark in Japanese contexts?

Best regards,

Yoshihiro Man'i

On 2025/09/12 11:19, Tomoko Sakomura wrote:
> Dear PMJS colleagues,
>
> I'd love to seek your expertise on a question from a colleague. Three photos are attached to this message. My colleague wrote to me with the following:
>

> * Philadelphia Seaport Museum is preparing for an exhibition on Philadelphia’s role in the China trade as part of the big semiquincentennial celebrations happening in 2026.
> * The curator is trying to translate an inscription on a bolt of silk that was formerly in the collection of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum. He thought it was Chinese but I think it could be Japanese. The museum, which no longer exists, collected industrial products from around the world (including Asia) as references for local manufacturers and tradesmen.
> * I’m wondering if it could be written using a type of Japanese merchants’ numbering system (Chinese merchants had one called Suzhou numbers or 草碼).

>
> Does the inscription read 長政 十月五日? Any thoughts on the seal and possible numbering/inscription system?
>
> Thank you so much for your help.
>
> Best,
>
> Tomoko
>
> --

> Tomoko Sakomura <https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/tomoko-sakomura> (she/her)

> Professor of Art History
> Swarthmore College
>

> --
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[GUELBERG Niels]

Dear Tomoko,

the seal reads 當間長政, so that may be the craftsman who wove the textile (in that case the textile may be from Okinawa).

I would read the rest not as a date, it looks more like 十丑五ソ which may be a technical advice (I don't know anything about weaving, but for "丑" I found the reading 'himo').

Niels

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差出人: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> が 萬井 良大 <ihso...@gmail.com> の代理で送信
送信日時: 2025年9月14日 9:35
宛先: pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
件名: Re: [PMJS] Inscription and seal on a bolt of silk

 

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