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Subject:Re: Large Fukagawa (?) Imari Vase
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Aug 01, 2016
When flipped 90 degrees left, the two characters on the right side of the mark look like 肥碟 (Hi-cho), while the left stack begins with what appears to be 山 (Zan), but in parentheses running top-to-bottom. If I'm seeing the kanji correctly, the first three characters might be a weird way of writing the name "Hichozan" (unless the "zan" in parentheses I think I see is just a malformed Fukagawa Koransha orchid logo). The mark then ends with the normal 製 (Sei - "Made").
If the whole thing indeed was meant to read down and across from the top right as "Made by Hichozan", then your dealer's attribution to Fukagawa would make sense. Hichozan was a name associated with various studio artists used by Fukagawa at the former Hirado kilns at Mikawachi, which site was taken over by Fukagawa circa the 1870's, during the Meiji period (1868-1912). This style of writing "Sei" has been used before in Fukagawa marks. I've also seen the several Hichozan marks with and without Fukagawa or their logo being included, but this present mark would be new to me, presuming there's any basis to my speculation here. gotheborg.com and the Louis Lawrence book on Hirado wares both mention Fukagawa and their Hichozan connection.
Good luck,
Bill H.
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