Beautiful Thick Antique Japanese Merchant Ledger with Rope Binding rubber puppet Massachusetts that included mid-century furnishings

Massachusetts that included mid-century furnishings and a huge collection of animal-related art and objects from around the world

I sure love the crossed arms of the orange-red fox and raised arms resting on folded knees of the man

I find them poignant

The fact that a few different companies produced these

Un-used cork stopper included

Beautiful Thick Antique Japanese Merchant Ledger with Rope Binding rubber puppet Massachusetts that included mid-century furnishingsThis is a an old Japanase merchant ledger book that I believe would be known as a daifuku cho, with sumi ink characters on the front and back covers, handwritten tabs dividing sections, and many of its many many pages filled with ink writing. It is bound at the top with rope; I believe the binding would also be used for hanging it, as I understand it such that it and other ledgers could be quickly gathered up if there was a fire or emergency. Later