Translation help

[Pgorman001]

Hello all! 

I am looking for some help translating some characters on some items.  My wife's grandmother recently passed, and we were able to take these from her house before the estate sale.  We picked them solely on aesthetics, but would like to know the meaning before w put them up...I think for obvious reasons.  The grandmother, Molly, traveled the world but had a particular fondness for Chinese culture and art.  As I said, she travelled all over; so I am not even sure these are Chinese characters or not.  I have done a brief search but feel like I'm just spinning my wheels.  If anyone knows of an easy searchable resource, I would be happy take a look at that too.  The items are as follows:

1. 4 paintings in a set

2. A 'coaster' our trivet type thing

3. A wooden wall hanging with several lines of writing.  A couple pictures of that, including close ups.

 

Thank you in advance for any help, it is most appreciated.  Cheers! 

[dwq]

1. 祿 Prosperity、福 Fortune、壽 Longevity、喜 Happiness

(usually ordered 福祿壽喜)

 

2. 美 Beauty

 

3. The wall hanging is Japanese and says

 

小児主薬　蒼龍丸　むしおさえ

江戸　本郷金助町　本家　山崎文蔵

 

Seems to be Edo-era advertisement for some child medicine.

Not sure what the seal says.

 

http://w01.tp1.jp/~a633570261/yamazaki1b.html

 

 

[TheBigZaboon]

Based on dwq's sharp eyes, the Japanese scroll  seems to be an advertisement or a shop name (store sign) for a pharmacist in, I assume, Edo period Japan. The first line seems to refer to his specialties. The first item is the children's medicine already mentioned. The second seems to be the name of a type of Chinese medicine (often rolled into little balls resembling pills for ease of ingestion). The third is for control of insects. It's possible they all refer to the same thing, maybe for controlling worms in a kid's intestines. The key is what the middle term refers to. I don't have a Chinese medicine (kampoyaku) dictionary to confirm.

 

The third line is his address, followed by his name:

Edo, Hongo, Kinsuke-cho, Honka (or Honke) probably meaning  principal shop, or a shop in his residence. Each segment of the address narrows the scope down a notch. And finally, his name, Yamazaki (family name). His first name is a bit trickier, but may be Bunzo. I will check later.

 

Hope this helps, but I don't know if this is appropriate for your purposes.

[889]

Yes, Bunzō.

[Pgorman001]

Wow, Thank you all for your help!  I wouldn't have thought the Japanese sign would be that old, it is in fairly good condition.  It is interesting, but haven't been able to find out much about these online.  Does anybody know if these are common?

Molly (the grandmother) has an unbelievable amount of things from China, Japan, Korea and others; it is like walking into a museum.  Although, it is difficult to tell how much is mass produced and how much is authentic antiques, especially to my inexperienced eyes.  

Anyway, thank you again for your help.  If anybody else has any insight, it would be interesting to hear.  Cheers!