Asian Pottery Piece that Could be a Vase

Hello All,
I am trying to figure out  if it's

1: Chinese or Japanese?
2: a new piece made to look old?
3: What the heck was it used for?

I'm guessing possibly a vase and the top (which comes off) is used to arrange the floweres OR a brush pot.
The piece is 6" high
5" long and 3" wide. weighs 2.2lbs
it has art deco-y lines to it
The signature which is on the bottom,  is painted not stamped on ( I think)
This is the front. All the sides have something different painted  (transfered?) on and trimmed in gold
Thank you for any help you can give me.
I did ask a friend that lived in Japan and hoping he has a clue. If so I'll get back and post it
Thank you!

I think its Japanese due to the handwritten mark , possibly early 20th century but difficult to tell because the crackle glaze is probably deliberate rather than a sign of age. Can't tell if the pattern is  transferprinted and over painted or all hand painted, but either way it's a sign it's closer to 1900 rather than modern.

Thanks so much!....you are so knowledgable on just about everything pottery. I agree the crackle glaze is deliberate. I can tell by comparing it with old pieces that have crazed naturally over time. The gold highlights look handed painted on and it has a different look from the rest of the pattern so I'm guessing the pattern is transfer. It looks like the pattern is over the glaze . I was just told by someone else it is Japanese as the bottom mountain symbol is pronounced zan or yama.
What do you think it could be?

It might be for potpourri.

I think the first thing to say about your flower vase is that it is not a traditional Chinese or Japanese shape, which for me rules out it being made in the 19th century or before. The decoration is also a Westernised version of tradition.

The shape and the fact that it has the insert to help arrange flowers suggest to me that it was made during the Art Deco period (1930s) for export, as the shape and such inserts were fashionable in the West (by that I mean Europe and N. America) during that period.

I would also think that it was made in Japan rather than China but wouldn't be surprised either way. I see that you were told that one of the symbols on the bottom was that for mountain in Japanese, although I can't see which one that might be. However, the Japanese character for mountain, 山, is the same as the Chinese character for mountain from where it originates so if it is there it doesn't prove anything.

So a flower vase likely to have been made in Japan (or even China) during the 1930s for export is my opinion.

Agreed. It does have an art deco shape pointing to 1920-30s date.
It doesn't have the mountain shaped character for 'Japan' (based on the shape of Mt Fiji), but it does have a very fluid style of writing indicative of Japanese. I wouldn't be surprise if the mark says 'manufactured in the province of xxxx, in the town of xxxx'

I've just checked and the top two characters do appear to translate as "manufactured" both in Japanese and Chinese.

Thank you studio-pots and NaomiM for your valuable information. It looks like what I found is a piece for flower arrangements is called a flower brick, the top is a frog

Last night I stayed up and did a search for pottery bricks/blocks with flower frog and found this one from the.
18c  @ antiquepottery.co.uk/antique-pottery-and-ceramics/d/antique-period-english-pottery-delftware-flower-brick-early-18th-century/126879. So the shape itself and use has been around.
My friend Tim had no other information and could only find comps of a company called Andrea for
Sedack housewares made probably in the 70s...a very popular shapes as the
company seemed to have made a few patterns.
I did my own search for mountain symbols and agree...I don't know where they got
the info that  the bottom left character was a symbol for mountain.

It could have been produced early 20c and looking at it closely it has enough wear and tear on it to be that old (or young)
Looking closely at the pattern it seems that it was put over the glaze as the colors pooled in the crackle and just two colors were used, the blue and orange
Here is one more pic with the lid. Notice its more like a wafer as it has no lip to secure it in.

So do you think that it could have been made more recently than the 1930s?

studio-pots wrote:So do you think that it could have been made more recently than the 1930s?

Hey, you never know.  Tim is refering to a particular company "Andrea by Sadek". The US company has been making all kinds of tchotchkes, giftware and things of all types since the 1930. Items like brass trinkets and porcelain animals.

I did find something on ebay, a vase. Now check this out, the pattern and the siggy..same thing as mine. believe me on ebay,I know all too well that just because something looks like a duck or quacks like one doesn't always mean it IS one...especially on ebay. I found most people know little or nothing about what they sell, thus most of the descriptions are "please look carefully at the pictures as they are a big part of the description"  and for the most part, you're on your own.

The vase in the link below looks like it was painted and signed by the same person but my piece is missing the "hand-painted" and the boxes around the characters......so it's a hmmmm. Mine could be the same, "19c"as they described or it might not be

19c-LARGE-Japanese-IMARI-handpainted-red-and-cobalt-blue-vase-12-tall


Not too long ago I posted a large greenish colored matte vase I found at a thrift. Perfect condition, not a chip or mark on the piece. I thought perhaps it was Belgium and ask about it on the forum.  It turned out to be a rare 1914 Roseville Pauleo vase. I immediately sold it because I couldn't possible keep such a valuable piece of pottery. In my hands it would be destroyed in about a month and worth nothing. So, before I do anything with a piece I find, I do try and find out what it is . We have three kitties here and it would be a shame if the knocked something of value over. font=Comic Sans MS][/font][/size]

Yes, it does look like the same pattern and crackle glaze as the Imari vase and probably made in the same location and turn of the century +/- a decade or two.

I think the 'Andrea by Sadek' pieces are later. The decoration on your item and Sadek pieces contain traditional elements in Japanese pottery - the rock, the flowers, the leaves - so it's not surprising they look similar, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were made by the same company.

Sadek and other companies imported a lot of Imari and satsuma porcelain in the 1980. It was made in whatever style was fashionable for the era. I think my piece and the one on the eBay link are related. It's just unfortunate that you can't depend on the sellers for their information. If I come up with anything else I'll post it...thanks NaomiM

Hi!, this is kutani imari satsuma ware made early to mid 20th c, the vase on ebay is most definitely not 19thc as stated, "hand painted" was no introduced until well in to the 20thc for the Americans along with the wording Nippon. I have seen that mark written on a piece of 1950s tea set along with three other marks! Japanese marks are often copied reused read from all angles and confusingly Japanese factories can use old stamps that show no relevance to the piece at all! Just to confuse their export buyers! Hope that helps

em x

Hello!

I cant really add very much as everyones already pointed you in the right direction but Ill just confirm from what I know. Definitely Japanese. Kutani, I believe are the first characters (although very highly stylized) on the right side of the mark. It's got heavy dark crazing because someone actually used it as a flower pot and the dirty still water seeped into the cracks in the glaze of the pieces and stained them darker. I dont believe the effect is artificial or used to create age. Is this consistent on the inside as well? I cant see. I have a few porcelain flower pots with age with crazing (although not as heavy as this, still apparent). It looks hand painted and in the 'Imari' style (gold, red, blue on a white background). It's technically used for 'Ikebana' or the Japanese art of flower arrangement. The shape strikes me as very western so its most likely an export piece. Dating is a little more difficult, if hand painted as it appears to be, it's either a higher end newer piece or as everyone has suggested somewhere around the 20s-30s maybe even as late as the 40s. Im not worried its not marked with Nippon or Japan because most Japanese porcelain Ive come across from the 20th century had paper labels which most people removed after purchasing the piece. Japanese export still carries on this tradition of paper labeling. I hope this has added/confirmed a little more for you!

Hi eshearm, Dannd thank you both for the great information. I use eBay to look for comps if possible. I know there is so much wrong info to be found there but it gives you at least a starting point on where to look. Example, I have an older really pretty Art Nouveau styled silver plate platter. After researching the marks, I found it's from the 1970s AN revival period. Someone has a similar piece for sale on eBay claiming it's from the 1800s. As I said, it's good as a starting point but too many times not much more than that..
With mine , the crackle glaze isn't used on the inside , there is crazing and it's clean as you can see in the last picture, except for the darker staining around the rim of both the lid and where the lid sits....under the rim of the vase is some dark staining.
I do resell some of my pieces and would rather hold on to something than give out wrong info. .....and I prefer not to end up giving something away because I had no idea of the value.
I do appreciate the information and will use it to further research a fascinating area of pottery. It's interesting and fun.
Thank you!