Lucky Cat Museum - pg 8 - Ceramic & Pottery Maneki Nekos

Gallery 8 Maneki Nekos: Ceramic & Pottery Lucky Cats [Note: Please click on the small pictures below to see larger images.] [mix02]

	My first Manekineko! I won this cat at a Memphis Humane Society auction more than a few years ago. He's light brown with big black spots & a painted-on gold-striped collar. Earthenware, 11" (28 cm) tall.
	A pretty white Beckoning Cat from Down Under! Painted ceramic, 4.25" (11 cm) tall. I bought two of them (duplicates) from an Australian seller & sent the other one to Diane in Texas.
	A sweet lil kitty with "JAPAN" embossed on his back. The green paint is odd, but it kinda grows on you. 2.25" (6 cm) tall, painted gray ceramic.
	A pretty Mi-ke M'Neko from Nashville's Cat Shoppe with attached cloth pillow & metal bell. Height 2 3/4" (7mm), material ceramic, age & maker unknown.
	A lovely design. Red, white, & 3 shades of blue. Hi-gloss glazed ceramic, 2 3/8" (6 cm) tall, without any marking. From Anna at the 1986 Memphis Cat Fanciers Cat Show.
	This romantic Lucky Cat appears to have been hand-shaped from clay, glazed, and then hand-painted. He's 2 3/4" tall, comes from Japan, & is signed (?) by the artist on the bottom.
	This sweet beckoner is said to be from the Japanese Showa period (1926-1989). He comes to me from eBayer "softypapa" of Shizuoka, Japan. Painted ceramic, 5" (12.5cm) tall, unusual.
	A happy Waving Cat, mounted on a ceramic tile, from artist John Nishio. Painted ceramic, 3.5" (9 cm) tall, bought new in Japantown, San Jose, CA, 2004. Scratched into the underside of the base is "NISHIO / (c)"
	From Amie's & Roku's "Old Japan, Inc" store in Boston: A reproduction of a classic Maneki w/ great ears! Made in Japan, 8" (20 cm) tall, painted ceramic. No ID except a paper "Old Japan Inc." price sticker.
	A wonderful older cat from eBayer "softypapa" in Japan. I admire the smooth, almost sensuous, design of this simple-appearing Maneki Neko. He's solid ceramic, black with red & gold details, 3.3" (8.5cm) in height, and he's signed on the bottom. Age is unknown, but he's far from new.
	An Hawaiian Maneki with a yellow flower & a Green Lizard aboard. (I don't think the lizard has any significance here other than to show that Lucky Maui's are not particular about who they hang out with.) A ceramic bank, 6" (15 cm) tall, purchased from an eBayer in Indianapolis, IN.
	From the Shiki store in Japantown, this handmade ceramic kitty has an expressive handpainted face & accenting green-glaze spots. With his spotted, crackly finish & red painted details, I consider him one of the neatest Maneki's that I've ever seen. Glazed ceramic; 3.25" (8 cm) tall; bought new in San Francisco. A mark is inside.
	A real cutie, this girl is made so that she can rock back & forth on her bottom. She also has a metal locket which can be opened & can hold two very small photos. A wonderful gift from Roz. Height 6.5" (17cm), an unglazed ceramic bank with rubber stopper, marked on the underside with a gold & black "Seven Corporation" sticker and an impressed SC logo.
	A 12" (30 cm) tall, plaster (?) Lucky Cat, w/ tricolor patches. Probably olde, as the NY seller claimed to have acquired him in 1960 & that it wasn't new then. But there are no marks & few clues: A tiny round hole in the bottom & a faded red, squarish stain on the front -- probably left by a red cloth bib collar. There's also a hole between the arm & neck that would have allowed attaching the bib. [Thanks for the beautiful bib, Tzip!]
	A pottery beckoner found by Larry & Barbara in San Francisco (Shiki, Japan Center) and bought for me instead of a crummy ole t-shirt, lol! He has several different colors of glaze on him, but his most outstanding feature is the ash & sand on the outside, which give him a unique appearance & an interesting texture. 5 1/4" (13.25 cm) tall, bearing an oval silver label on the bottom that says "SAN FRANCISCO / SHIKI / MADE IN JAPAN".
	This happy kitty is a yellow cochin Maneki Neko - one of a limited-edition Seven-Deities set. 1.5" (4 cm), w/o ID, he represents "Ebisu the Fisherman," god of success & abundance. I bought him new from the Celadon Art Gallery in London. Cochin ceramics is an art form originating in China but now existing only in Taiwan. It's a combination of sculpting, glazing & ceramic-making which reminds me of cloisonné without the metal background.
	My "Year of the Rat" cat for 2008. A gift from the family - much appreciated! This is a "Hakata" doll, crafted in southern Japan & bearing the Hakata seal underneath. It is made of unglazed pink terracotta clay, not porcelain, for a soft finish & bright colors. The bottom rat (who's beckoning!) holds a "fuku" coin; the top rat holds a magic hammer; Maneki Neko holds a gold coin. A tricolor kitty in tan, with unusual black & gold-tone spots. Height approx 7" (18cm). Purchased new from an online Japanese dealer. It has a circular green Hakata sticker & a circular red stamp with 3 Kanji characters on it.
A truly laid-back Beckoner, this guy resembles an adobe brick. I found him on a "marked down" basement sales table in San Francisco's China Town, 2004. He's a ceramic bank, 8" (20 cm) long, &, underneath, has a rubber stopper & a round gold "KOTOBUKI / SO. SAN FRANCISCO / MADE IN JAPAN" sticker.
I think that multiple-sided Nekos are cool. I bought this guy from Hong Kong eBayer "kailin". He's 4.25" (10.5 cm) tall, ceramic, & covered with a gray-brown crackly glaze. A red chop mark is painted onto his glazed, double-holed base.
This worried looking Good-Luck Cat is waving both paws as best he can. It must have something to do with a sweetheart, as you can tell from the clever cutout in his back. Everything's been done by hand here - the shaping, painting, & glazing. He's 1 3/4" tall (3" wide"), made of hardened pottery clay, and comes from Japan. There's a yellow paper sticker on his left side & a small square impression on his right.
1 2 3 [1] An American-style tri-color calico cat. 5" (12.5 cm) tall. Handpainted by Pat Tyber & made of cast stone from Peter Tyber's original carving. [Note: This is the original version with a long tail instead of a bobbed one.] Underneath is painted "TYBER MANEKI NEKO (c)1999 #2 FOR DON MOON". Purchased directly from Pat [2] A black-spotted yellow Lucky Cat called "Tiny Leopard" -- a 2" (5 cm) tall Tyber Neko from TyberKatz. A surprise gift from Pat Tyber. ("Mini thanks, Pat!") Underneath, painted in black, is "TYBER / MANEKI / NEKO / (c)1999". [3] Ok, not a Maneki Neko, but still wildly interesting (he beckons in the 4th dimension) -- This is Peter Tyber's "Space Cat". Cast stone, 6" (15 cm) tall, with the artist's mark & "(c) 1999" scratched into the bottom. A gift from Pat, who knew that I would like it. (I'm an SF fan.).
Ceramic Bells, Chimes, and Rattles:
1 2 3 4 [1] A simple, handmade (?), Lucky Cat zombie from Japan via Boston's "Old Japan, Inc.". When shaken, he's a pleasant-sounding bell. Handpainted ceramic; 4.25" (11 cm). ID: scratches on the bottom (?). [2] A present from my Sister Sue & her family: A colorful Happy Cat wearing a gentleman's kimono. Actually a bell - he's made of painted ceramic, sits 3" (8 cm) tall, & has a round gold-&-black sticker underneath (in Japanese). A big red cloth pillow was included. From the "Tukami Japanese Dolls & Gifts" webshop, Miyagi, Japan, 2005. [3] A white w/ blue ceramic Maneki-Neko bell w/ a hanging tag ("Luck, luck wind!") & a clapper that turns him into a wind-chime. The cat figurine is 3" (8 cm) tall. From eBay seller "biggggg" in Honolulu, Hawaii, 2002. [4] A beckoning black bell made of clay with handpainted details. There's an inscription painted on the back that reads "Kuroji Maneki". This is a charm to make an accountant's balance sheet come out in the black ("kuroji"). Purchased from "ssc4tansu", made in the 1980's, 2.75" (7 cm) in height, with a bright red cord attached to the back for hanging or holding.