Japanese Item found at estate sale, what is it an what does it say??

[rrobertscv]

I have used this forum once in the past and hope to get some more help. Found this item today, can someone tell me what it was used for and translate it? I am sorry for the pics, it is very small and hard to photograph, it seems like a stamp of some kind. Thanks for any help

 

[Toritoribe]

It's a stamp/name seal. The character carved on the side is 卒業記念 "in commemoration of graduation", but the name is illegible.

 

[Mike Cash]

高橋 perhaps?

 

[Toritoribe]

Ah, yeah, probably that's correct.

 

[Mike Cash]

Ah, yeah, probably that's correct.

Yay!

I guessed from the top stroke of 高 and the radical of 橋

 

[rrobertscv]

高橋 perhaps?

s this the name?? What era or age do you think this piece is??

 

[Toritoribe]

I guessed from the top stroke of 高 and the radical of 橋

Here's 高橋 in cursive script and the reversed seal. I have to admit that I was only able to recognize 木偏...

s this the name??

A Japanese family name Takahashi.

 

[rrobertscv]

I found this at the estate of a WWII veteran, any chance it is from that era?

 

[Majestic]

Could be. There almost no way to know for sure. The seal itself doesn't have any dates on it. There is nothing about it that would indicate its vintage. Hanko seals are common gifts for graduates to receive. Takahashi is an extremely common name.
Seal (East Asia) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(scroll down to the section on Japanese usage).
It being made of some kind of metal is somewhat distinctive. It's not completely unheard of, but normally these things are made of wood, bamboo, plastic, horn, occasionally ivory.

 

[rrobertscv]

Thanks for the reply. It is not metal, it is like acrylic