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Bought this cute little tea set, from a Japanese eBay listing, as a gift for some friends. It came with a small basket-type holder for the set. Am hoping to add to their pleasure with some information.

Can anyone here please suggest approximate age, maker or region of manufacture, and meaning of inscription? I'm also curious as to how the printing was done - rolling rubber stamp?

In cse they actually want to use it (I'll include some sencha), I cleaned the pieces of old tea residue with dilute bleach. I hope that wasn't a sin...

Thanks very much for your assistance.

And two more partial images of the script, from the pot and a cup.

The four-character base mark reads down and across from the right in two stacks as "Kutani Pottery". This is a contemporary mark, probably in use no earlier than the late 20th century. The inscriptions were applied by transfer method and essentially comprise part of the decoration (or perhaps a form of encouragement for both of us to enroll in a Japanese course). Since this pot is glazed, I tend to believe it doesn't absorb the essence of tea like porous pottery, but you'll need an expert to verify my opinion.

Good luck,

Bill H.

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