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Can anyone tell me the place of origin, age and/or style/motif of this bowl with a duck head handle?

The red seal looks to be Porcelain made at Arita kiln. "Nippon", meaning: Japan. 20th century. Not an expert on Japan marks, In the 1960's transfer based fake Nippon marks were applied by unscrupulous factories to thousands of imported Japanese porcelains sold in the USA. Right after the war a Chicago millionare Geo Lefton went to Japan and opened factories that forged marks, stole american patents designs on figurines. His motive was money as it usually is and the confusion on fakes and real eventually dampened collector enthusiasm. Looks like a Nippon mark.

I suggest you investigate Korean ceramics. The mark does not say Nippon (Japan) rather both the characters and the seal say Jade Spring.

The characters would be pronounced 'Gyokusen' (Jade Spring or Source) in Japanese. There is a ceramics producer of that same name at the famous kiln town of Mikawachi (see link). However, I didn't spot a match for you duck bowl on the website.

Good luck,

Bill H.

URL Title :gyokusen

Korean white porcelain, "Baek-Ja" was originally made for the common people during the years of the Japanese occupation, but has now become a highly regarded, quality art. The duck is a historical symbol of purity and premier quality and the duck-head has become somewhat of a fad on white porcelain (sometimes called white celadon) in Korea. I visited the Korean cultural exhibit at Inchon Airport earlier this year and saw many pieces of white porcelain with duck-heads similar to yours, in the form of bowls, cups and variously shaped dishes. It is probable that your piece is modern but of high quality Korean porcelain.

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