18^th Century

The gilded pan of the scales is finely carved with leaves and flowers and the ‘aoi’ (hollyhock) heraldry of the Tokugawa clan. This is connected with green silk cords to the scale made of hard wood with many tiny silver pins to calibrate and denote amounts of weight.

The gilded weight itself is decorated in the same manner as the pan with two hollyhock crests and a stamp on the bottom authenticating that it was approved by the Tokugawa government.

Any kind of fraud or cheating in regard to weights and measures was considered a very serious offence by the Bakufu with painful and fatal consequences!

The scales are stored in their original lacquered wood box as well as a plain paulownia wood storage box.