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This vase does not fit my expectations of a satsuma vase but i do not know how else to categorize it.

vase has a matte off white ground with detailed decoration in the round of trees among rock work with village huts in the background. a man is fishing in a river encircling the vase. the main decoration is done en-gresaille with tree leaves painted in green. over "glaze" white enamel punctuates the scenery to depict flowering buds.

now i believe that this decoration is all enamel - that it is not transfer ware. i know it seems silly raising the question but i do so because the decoration is so flat. the flat decoration on the matte surface is a strange phenomenon to me. and yes it all looks brush stroked but reproduction techniques can be very sophisticated.

there is what appears to be a signature on the visible vase while underneath are marks which at this point are too difficult to photograph but they do not appear to alphabetical/kanji.

so my questions are regarding age, classification, and the signature if indeed that is what it is.

If your vase porcelain, not Satsuma, which was usually light tan to buff earthenware with lead glaze.

Photo of base, footrim would disclose more.

Sorry can't read marks.

No matter maker, beautiful vase with very nice painting. In such pristine condition, guess not very old.

Good luck,
Cal

ok so satsuma is not porcelain? i didn't expect it to be satsuma but i saw a satsuma vase which had a near white finish comparable to mine. i also saw a fukugawa vase which had some resemblances....

i also suspect that this vase is 20-40 years old - possibly newer....was looking for confirming opinions.

Dear Tony,
I can't tell you much for sure but one thing I can; this is no Satsuma, wich is in fact a kind of earthenware with a crackled surface. I can only try to give it a classification when I move from Japan to China. This lookes like a style witch is called "Qianjiang". A style developed in China in (about) the second half of the 19th century and based on Chinese paintings from old Yuan masters. I can't read them but the black characters and the(kind of) red seal is typical for Qianjiang ware also. Because I am totaly unknown with this ware I can't give you any clue about the age.

best regards,

Arjan

it is interesting that you find a chinese connection with the vase. my instinct was to give it japanese origins but i cannot articulate why.

the qianjiang lead was very informative yet i have not found any examples justifying that categorization. in some ways the vase fits the description of that genre but seems too far off the mark and of later origin. i love the soft tones / watercolor feel of the qianjiang and this vase has it in some ways but not in the way of the documented pieces i have seen....it is the matte surface which has thrown me....

in any event it is very nice vase.

Hi Tony,

Well, in fact, the Japanese did copy this style (of course !...) . As I wrote I'm to unknown with this ware to give a proper solution. I hoped to trigger other, more knowledgable members, to give there opnions with bringing up the qianjiang-style. My first opinion abou age was "not to old" because of the gold rim but the did use gold 100 years ago on these pieces. The matte surface isn't typical for the style. Herewith some examples of Chinese qianjiang ware. First picture; a dated vase 1882, 2nd. Guangxhu periode, 3th. Mid 20th. century.

regards,
Arjan

thanks for the pictures.....they are much like the qianjiang which i found....they all seem out of sorts with my vase....my vase is a bit perplexing yet...

Tony,

Just for fun.... a small (only 12 cm.) Satsuma vase I bought yesterday.
Arjan

that is what i think of when i think satsuma....and this is not porcelain - correct?

i believe that the mystery is solved in part. this appears to be a fukugawa vase and i would suspect mid 20th C. or so.

The vase is very nice, but the mark is not that of The Fukagawa Porcelain Company. Fukagawa has used the logo of a mountain and stream on its wares since 1894, and always in blue. The red seal-like "kawa" on your piece, has never been applied to a piece from Fukagawa Porcelain Company.

there may be something going on with your monitor because the mark i showed is indeed blue - not red - and includes a mountain top with stream as the first symbol. i admit that the images are blurry and somewhat difficult to work with which is why i was stumped in deciphering them. (the blurriness is as made - not due to my poor camera skills.)

i have included a couple of backstamps which two other dealers on trocadero used to attribute their pieces to fukugawa. in fact one has a vase shaped quite similarly to mine as does miller's. i feel reasonably confident that this is fukuwa.

i am not sure what the symbols below the mountain represent but they seem to be the same as those on my vase.

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