Designer: Unknown

Item: Collection of Eight Kounoike leather banks

Manufactured by: Ikeke Seisakusho

Country of origin: Japan

Year made: 1960s

Materials: Leather, brass and steel

Dimensions: Highest is about 7”, widest is about 4” and deepest is about 8”

Description: Here is a nice collection of eight vintage original Kounoike leather piggy banks in the shapes of various animals.  Only six are pictured, but eight are being offered. This collection includes the standard elephant (in both black and brown leather) and the pig, the owl, the whale and a harder-to find lady bug missing its antenna.. This set also includes a mint never used bull with its very rare original box, which we have never seen before.  All are marked with either the impressed Kounoike symbol of a bird, the foil Kounoike label or both.

According to the limited amount of information available on the Internet, Ikeke Seisakusho was a long established leather manufacturer that began making these banks in 1965.  However, we have also found some information about other long established leather goods makers in Japan with the surname Seisakusho. We hope to gain more information about the firm that manufactured these and who actually designed them. But we do know that these were sold in specialty retail stores in Japan, because we have seen others with the retailer sticker of the Shirokiya Department store chain in Japan.

Condition: Very good to mint.