Totally lost on this little vase

I found this vase and thought it was really unusual, I can't find anything even close to it online and am totally lost. The hallmark appears to have a dollar sign(?) inside either a flower or clover. The only thing I know for sure is that it was made in Japan and has a sailing ship on the front. I'm not sure as to what type of metal this is. It appears to have a hammered look, but not sure about that either. Would really appreciate help with maker, age, and metal. The vase is 5.25" tall and 1.75" wide.

 

It looks like it might be made from a small caliber artillery shell, perhaps post WWII. Not really a traditional Japanese style.

 

wow....where would I find those on the net?

 

Hello Crystalina,
Mark from studio antiques here. Search "Trenchart"

 

thank you, I will

 

Can you tell me how I know for sure it may be trench art?

 

I am not sure they wrote made in japan on their artillery shells.........

 

My suggestion is based on experiences that my parents had when stationed in Japan during the occupation. Among other things they brought back were 2 aluminum suitcases. Mom explained that they were made from aircraft scrap metal, and that Japanese artisans were making anything they could out of the wreckage of the war, often to sell to the American occupiers. The vase may have been stamped after it was made, to comply with export regulations.

 

I am totally fascinated by the talent these men had. Wow!

 

Don't think this is trench art. Looks like cast plated pot metal to me.

 

I looked for it, but I must not be looking right. Since it is made in Japan and has a flower with a $ inside it, where/how would I look??? I can't find that hallmark.

 

Not a dollar sign. The mark does resemble the Noritake marks found on their early 20th century porcelain wares. I wonder if this could be Noritake made?( I can't say for sure if they made metal houseware).

 

1930s silver plated pot metal.
Very soft and is easily bent.

Afraid there isn't a lot of value to these.
Made in Japan
The mark is may be the exporter and not the maker.

 

could be tourist item from Spain showing the Santa Maria.
after the war cheap souvenirs were often ordered in Japan. Kuckuck clocks, music boxes with Heidi and Geissenpeter etc., everything made in Japan.

 

Given the Spanish borders were closed to imports during the Franco years and there wasn't mass tourism until the 1960s... I think it's just the generic ship motif that was popular in the 1920s/1930s. Tons of examples of brass objects with similar floating around the internet. Here's one.

Debora