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Hello, I purchased this leaf shaped trinket dish along with the kinkozan ginger jar I recently posted, which was from the same estate.

Although in quite good condition, the piece appears to be slightly discolored and with fine crazing along the surface. Unfortunately there are no marks at the foot, but there is some writing on the front of the piece. Is anyone able to translate any of the text or have any idea what this might be?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!

The leaf dish, with floral motif in "Kakiemon" colors, also is by Kinkozan (錦光山), the signature of which studio appears at the lower right of the piece, just beneath the aubergine lacewing.

It's difficult to say, but the plant to the left of the signature, sprouting up with spiked leaves on both sides of the peony or chrysanthemum, looks possibly to have other characters cyphered into the red blooms at its stem tips. Perhaps others can verify if anything sensible can be made of this. This floral design is much in the Chinese mode.

The yellowish or straw color and crazing in the body of the piece would indicate it is Satsuma-style crackle-glaze stoneware, which was meant to be this color from the outset, not that it couldn't have been stained by exposure to smoke or other air pollutants over time. I've found Kinkozan-signed tea wares in the same material, decoration and palette to be somewhat common in antique shops around Florida, where I live and shop. I'd date them to circa 1900-1925, late Meiji-to-Taisho period.

I don't have anything similar to your leaf dish, however, here's a Kinkozan "Shippo" style cloisonné ginger jar using the same kind of straw-colored stoneware as its body. Its dating is late Meiji.

Best regards,

Bill H.

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