An ephemeral spin on Art Deco taken from an album of “pochibukuro” or mini-envelopes for concealing cash made expressly for liberated Japanese “modern girls” to use in the Tokyo nightclubs of the 1920s. Hirō Shōeidō Ishō-bu, editor and publisher. From the website of rare book dealer Michael Laird.

Three *pochibukuro*. Page from an album of *pochibukuro* that was edited and published by Hirō Shōeidō Ishō-bu. 1920s. Japanese. Image © 2023 Michael Laird Rare Books. Fair use license. via https://www.michaellaird.com/pages/books/4085/hiro-shoeido-isho-bu/japanese-art-deco-mini-envelopes-shushu-collection-vol-5

Front cover of an album of *pochibukuro* that was edited and published by Hirō Shōeidō Ishō-bu. 1920s. Japanese. Image © 2023 Michael Laird Rare Books. Fair use license. via https://www.michaellaird.com/pages/books/4085/hiro-shoeido-isho-bu/japanese-art-deco-mini-envelopes-shushu-collection-vol-5

Page from an album of *pochibukuro* that was edited and published by Hirō Shōeidō Ishō-bu. 1920s. Japanese. Image © 2023 Michael Laird Rare Books. Fair use license. via https://www.michaellaird.com/pages/books/4085/hiro-shoeido-isho-bu/japanese-art-deco-mini-envelopes-shushu-collection-vol-5

The description on the dealer’s website states that:

“

Our album was clearly intended for cosmopolitan Japanese MOGA (or “modern girls”) although there are a few oblique references to less important MOBO (“modern boys”) who would occasionally escort them to fashionable social events. Moga were Japan’s first recognizable youth culture: these young women rejected traditional kimonos and conservative societal values to embrace mass consumerism and Western cultural imports such as Hollywood films, department stores, dance halls, jazz orchestras, pants, cigarettes, and the modern city. Moga began to wear their hair (and their skirts) short in the style of American flappers, while men dressed as dandified French garçonnes. While Moga rejected modesty, having a lover was completely “out of fashion.” They divorced themselves from the previous state-mandated expectations and laws; while exuding a sense of independence, Moga attracted widespread criticism, but their influence remains to this day.

Many of the Art Deco designs on our album reflect the dynamic Japanese nightlife of the Roaring Twenties, a time of enormous cultural and economic change as women were making gains into the labor market. Indeed, most purchasers of Pochibukuro were women, and publishers such as ours created designs that would appeal to the “modern girl.” Some of the designs are NOT “modest.” There are depictions of stick-figures dancing the “Charleston,” a Cubist design for a dance, a Moga’s lips with requisite fashionable mole, another Moga’s lips with raised index finger for secrecy, “Western” sports such as tennis and cricket, a Moga bathing beauty, lit cigarettes, a Western card game, a Moga’s lips from which issue a dangling stem and seed, a design for “Moga / Mobo” alongside a martini glass, a “Chat Noir,” a Western dice, a Moga with her Mobo escort, a Moga with short bob hair, and much more.

Our album is apparently vol. 5 from a series of five, which was published between Taishō 13 (1924) and Shōwa 5 (1930). The publisher / editor Hirō Shōeidō evidently sought to showcase the company’s new Art Deco designs and to attract new Moga customers.

The tradition of the Pochibukuro mini-envelope began in the Edo period; they were used to conceal small amounts of money (“pochi” means “a little bit”), to be given as gifts, gratuities or tips, or for “services rendered” (especially those in pleasure districts). Such offerings could made discretely so as not to embarrass either party. Choosing the right Pochibukuro was an artform in itself, and a Mogu might bring several selections with her to a bar or various social occasions. Our volume perfectly contextualizes Moga within the craze for Hollywood films and American fashion, mass production, and the growing consumer market of “modern girls.”

Images from M. Digby Watt’s “The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851. From various folios issued between 1851 and 1853. Collections of the New York Public Library.

*The Amazon.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-8fe5-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*Embroidery in Bullion from Tunis.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-8fe8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*Specimens of Turkish Embroidery.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-8fee-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

A group of objects in glass – cut and engraved. Consisting of an engraved claret, and cut cream jug by Green of London – a Venetian champagne and an engraved ale glass by Bacchus of Birmingham – and an engraved claret glass and cut salt cellar by Apsley Pellatt of London. Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-8ff6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

“*Cassette” carved in ivory, exhibited by Matifat of Paris.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-8ff9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*Black lace flounce, (Nottingham manufacture) by Greasely and Hopcroft.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-9002-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*Metal bedstead, by Winfield of Birmingham.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-900e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*A Chinese looking glass in carved wood frame.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-9019-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*Pianofortes by Collard and Collard of London.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-901e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

*The Coventry ribbon, and specimens of ribbons from Saint Etienne, France.* Chromolithograph from Sir M. Digby Watt’s *The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: a series of illustrations of the choicest specimens produced by every nation, at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry held in 1851.* Collections of the New York Public Library. In the public domain due to age. via https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-901f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Hotel décor from the old days in Paris. Doesn’t look that way anymore but you can always dream of Sarah Bernhardt stopping by for tea. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (Newfields).

*Escalier, Hôtel du Figaro, Paris.* Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Jean Arnould Léveil, artist. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/63484/

*Vestibule, Hôtel du Figaro, Paris.* Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Jean Arnould Léveil, artist. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/61332/

*Salle de Bains, Hôtel Boulevard Exelmans,* Paris. Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Jean Arnould Léveil, artist. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/63483/

*Vestibules, Hôtel du Figaro, Paris.* Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Jean Arnould Léveil, artist. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/63509/

*Vestibule,* Hôtel de Menier, Paris. Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/63522

*Grand Salon, hôtel, Paris*. Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/63521/

*Vestibule, Hôtel Boulevard Exelmans,* Paris. Plate from *L’architecture privée au XIXme siècle (Troisième Série)*. Published in France in 1877. Chromolithograph. César Denis Daly, editor. Collections of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/63494/

“Motifs Japonais.” A portfolio of Art Deco versions of Japanese themes. The first edition, published in Paris ca. 1925. Woodblock designs, printed in pochoir, many executed with metallic silver, bronze, and copper inks. Hand-stenciled by l’atelier Ferrariello.

Pochoir print taken from *Motifs Japonais*, a portfolio of Art Deco versions of Japanese themes. One of forty woodblocks printed on pochoir. ca. 1925. Issued by H. Guillaume. Published in Paris. Hand-stenciled by l’atelier Ferrariello. Image © 2023 Michael Laird Rare Books. Fair use license. via https://www.michaellaird.com/pages/books/3975/atelier-ferrariello/art-deco-japanese-pochoir-designs-motifs-japonais-40-planches-eluminure-executee-par-l-atelier

Dreams of a Greece that isn’t coming back. Watercolors from an album with views of Greece done by artist Miltiadis Thon (1875-1945) whose album it was. It was part of a 2003 Bonhams auction.

Watercolor from an album that belonged to artist Miltiadis Thon with 135 watercolors done by the artist with various depictions of landscapes and seascapes of Greece. 1845. Signed and dated on the lower left. Image © Bonhams 2001-2023. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/10584/lot/19/?category=list

The Parthenon. Watercolor from an album that belonged to artist Miltiadis Thon with 135 watercolors done by the artist with various depictions of landscapes and seascapes of Greece. 1895-1937. Signed on the lower right. Image © Bonhams 2001-2023. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/10584/lot/19/?category=list

Miltiadsis Thon was a Greek artist of German descent. He was a descendant of Karl Christian Friedrich Thon, a Bavarian, who settled in Athens in 1833 when he arrived as a member of the court of King Otto.