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A charming vintage Japanese ceramic toothpick holder (爪楊枝入れ) produced by Midorigawa Shōten (みどり川商店), dating from the mid-Shōwa period. Combining an everyday household function with the playful character of Japanese novelty ceramics, this small piece takes the form of a highly stylized rooster (鶏 / 酉).
The rooster is reduced to a wonderfully modern, almost geometric silhouette. Its rounded body, small sculpted head and dramatically raised tail are formed from angular planes, giving the piece a surprisingly sculptural quality despite its humble purpose. The hollow tail section serves as the container for toothpicks.
Midorigawa Shōten was a small Japanese ceramics producer and wholesaler active mainly during the mid-Shōwa era, approximately the 1950s–1970s. Rather than functioning as an individual artist’s studio, it appears to have operated as a local production and distribution house for accessible domestic and souvenir ceramics. Its output included small practical and decorative objects such as toothpick holders, table accessories, figurines and novelty ceramics—the type of modest household objects that formed an important part of everyday material culture in postwar Japan.
