Unknown signature engraved in backplate.

Mid-19^th century Japanese bracket clock or ‘makura-dokei’ in the original glazed ebony case.

The ebony case has finely cut moldings, is glazed on four sides, has fabric lined silvered engraved frets, lift-out doors and a hinged silvered handle set on a decorative plaque.

The rotating dial has a turned sunken center, adjustable silvered engraved markers for the temporal ‘hours’, Shokudo markers for the ‘1/2 hour’ marks and a steel-cut hand.

The one-day movement has finely turned pillars, engraved plates with scrolling folliage, apertures for the sexagenary calendar, a brass balance wheel, a fusee on the time side and a going barrel on the strike side, a traditional Japanese countwheel and strikes by a torsioned hammer on a bell mounted above. The whole sits upon an ebony base with applied moldings and a drawer to keep the key.

The clock has an engraved signature that we are trying to translate. Unfortunately early Japanese characters are different than those used now.  Signed Japanese clocks are extremely rare,