Okay, so sometimes I find real neat stuff and have no idea what it is. For example, I found this Japanese pure silver box...okay, I know it is a box. The crest on top of the box has meaning, people don't just place symbols on pieces for the heck of it. The adventure began trying to track down what the box was used for and what the crest meant.The crest displayed a 14 petal chrysanthemum with flying cranes around it. I was armed with the knowledge of the piece being Japanese and I have the Interweb - can't be hard.
A few hours go bye and I come across a book a friend sent me had it has the same crest. The crest on the top of the box comes from PRINCELY HOUSE OF CHICHIBU.
Prince Chichibu was born in 1902 and was the second son of Emperor Taisho. Prince Chichibu was widely renowned among people of Japan as the Sporting Price due to his efforts to promote skiing, rugby and other sports.
Next, I was very curious as to the what this box was for. I search and search and finally found an old auction catalog that described the actual name and use of the box. It is known as a Bonbonniere. These Bonbonniere's are given as a gift to special guests of the Royal Family for a special event and typically contained some type of food or sweets inside. If you received one of these, you were probably pretty important or well liked person of the Royal Family.
I found this in Naples, FL at a local auction. I do not have any provenance behind the Bonbonniere, who owned it or how it was acquired.
