On the whole Kutani porcelains are characterized by their elaborate picture decorations in thick gold, red, blue and some other colors.Īs for Kyoto wares, Rakuyaki of Kyoto, closely connected with tea ceremonies since olden days. Kutani porcelains - produced in the prefecture of Ishikawa in the Hokuiku district of Honshu, the Japanese main island. They have a picture of a number of artisans sitting at the traditional low Japanese tables hand painting vases.Īrita porcelains - produced in the Saga prefecture of Kyushu. Wares of this type are finished in ivory lustre with fine crackles. Satsuma porcelains - mainly produced in and around the city of Kagoshima in Kyushu. They describe the various pottery of Japan as follows: The names are given in English without the Japanese equivalency since the book was aimed at English-speaking tourists. In addition to descriptions and photo examples of numerous types of pottery and porcelain, including where they were made, it features a list of Souvenir Dealers. The booklet seems to date to the mid-late 1930s. To further our understanding of 20th century porcelain marks our friend and member of our Discussion Board, Elyce Litts, recently sent me some notes from a small booklet entitled 'Some Suggestions for Souvenir Seekers' produced by the Japanese Government Railway. Bowes, James Lord, 1890 From a 1930s book 'Some Suggestions for Souvenir Seekers' Japanese pottery: with notes describing the thoughts and subjects employed in its decoration and illustrations from examples in the Bowes collection. The Character Zan, San, or Yama (mountain) from marks and seals on various examples of pottery. Beware though, it can become an obsession. It is a very unrewarding task to go through lists of marks and signatures as the below in the hope of finding the exact one to match yours, however a modest amount of study can produce a big difference. J Bowes, Japanese Marks & Seals is very helpful as is Koop & Inada, Japanese Names. One simple and easy guide to reading & writing Japanese is Ed Florence Sakade & al. To read these requires references such as a good Japanese/English dictionary such as Nelsons. From examples in the Bowes collection, Japanese pottery, Bowes, James Lord, 1890 Tsukuru or Zo, Sei or Seisu (made) characters from various examples of marks and seals on Japanese pottery. Then there are place names, Satsuma, Kutani, Seto etc. Signatures are usually followed by a suffix, for example Sei, tsukuru or saku all meaning 'made', or Ga, Dzu or Fude meaning 'painted' or 'drawn'. The marks are normally read from top to bottom, and right to left.

Showa (1926-1988), where 'early Showa' is often used to cover the Showa reign before 1945, and.

Sometimes the Genroku era (1688-1703) when popular culture flourishes is distinguished.

Edo period (1603-1867) roughly split into early, middle or late Edo.

Regarding dates, the following Japanese historical period names are the ones most commonly met with: To immediately gain a better understanding on the many names that occurs in Japanese pottery and porcelain, I believe the map that indicates the most common kiln areas (blue names) and cities (names in red) will be helpful. To immediately gain a better understanding on the many names that occurs in Japanese pottery and porcelain, I believe this map, that indicates the most common kiln areas (blue names) and cities (names in red), will be helpful. To take just one example, the Noritake company which has been active for about one hundred years only, are thought to have used over 400 different marks. Increasing the confusion are the hundreds of porcelain decorating firms active in the early to mid 20th century simultaneously putting many different marks on the same wares seemingly at random but probably for some reason. They can indicate the name of the factory, the potter, the decorator, the pattern, the customer, the exporter, the importer or both or a part of them or maybe just say 'Made in Japan', 'Japan', 'Nippon', 'Happiness' or 'Good luck' in any number of ways.

The marks are more commercially oriented, more numerous and can vary even within a set of pieces.

The entire range of Imperial reign marks so common on Chinese porcelain, genuine or not, is mostly lacking. We also find a different attitude towards what marks that are put on the Japanese porcelain and in particular the export porcelain from the 19th century and onwards. Personal signatures by the artists involved are quite common. Marks was also applied for different reasons that on the Chinese porcelain. The old Japanese ceramic industry was in many ways smaller in scale compared to the Chinese.

Dark and light taming kasha