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I have recently bought these two ewers which I find quite appealing. I believe they are Japanese and I know they don�t have any value but would like to know more about them if possible. They have a common fuku mark which I don�t believe is any help in dating.

I have found a useful site on Kutani porcelain which shows a vase which seems to use exactly the same enamel colour palette and techniques which is dated to the Taisho-Showa period and some ewers of the same form dating to the Meiji-Taisho period, so I am very tentatively guessing a date of c1930s for mine. I don�t think they are brand new because there were old newspaper cuttings in one (no dates unfortunately), and because there is a repair which has some old yellow glue residue, so must have been there for quite a while.

Having got this far, I have only been able to find the one image of an item with similar decoration, although the ewer form seems relatively common; I would be interested to know if this form and style of decoration was also used after WW2 and is this quite distinctive style & palette known to be typical of any particular region or maker?

The decorative style seems to emulate painted Kutani wares associated with famed Japanese artist Aoki Mokubei (1767-1833), but as you note, the bases are simply marked 'Good Fortune'.

I know that some Mokubei repros are being painted on blanks and refired in Hong Kong, although I haven't seen any ewers like this specifically attributed to that or any Mainland China sources for that fact. On the other hand, most older Japanese 'tributes' to Mokubei that I've seen do the master honor by putting his mark on the base.

With many Chinese-made repros of Japanese wares on the market nowadays, I'd maintain a healthy skepticism in the absence of an attributed match for these.

Best regards,

Bill H

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