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Hello,
please, does someone know the meaning of the mark and the age of the vase in the attached pictures?
I suppose it is from China but I am not sure.
I hope in your kind help.
Thanks a lot for your attention and best regards,
Luciano

Hi Luciano.
Chinese marks usually six characters. Japanese marks have eight characters. In this case mark is look a like oriental but probably fake. A few symbols repeats and the other is not clear.

The decoration of the vase is copying Chinese design cherry blossom.
Regards
Irina

Hi Irina,
first of all I apologize for my delay in the answer.
Thank you so much for your reply and for your expert news about my vase. I had also noticed that the mark is unusual and that the characters are not clear but I have also considered that the decoration is well painted (to me).
Kind regards,
Luciano

I tend to see a more normal pattern to the characters without repetitions. The stack on the right begins with the three characters, "Dai Nip-pon", and probably ends with the two characters for Hizen, the name of the former Province. The left stack appears to begin with the two characters for "Arita" and to end with the two characters for the maker, which I can't make out, followed by "Sei" "made". Here's an enhanced view of the mark in case anyone else can fill in the blank spot.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Hello Bill,
thank you so much for your kind, EXPERT and very interesting information.
Best regards,
Luciano

I did a Google asterisk search for the mark, using "*木" for the presumed maker's name, and came up with 大日本肥前有田青木製 as what may be the mark on your vase. If correct, this may transliterate to "Dai Nip-pon Hi-zen Ari-ta Ao-ki Sei", or "Made by Aoki at Arita in Hizen Province of Imperial Japan".

It seems that "青" (Ao) can stand for "Aoki" all by itself, and there is a well known kiln family named Aoki who use "青" within square borders as their mark. Whether this relates to your vase will require further research on your part.

I've also included a link to a site with some information on Aoki Mokubei (青木木米 - 1767-1833), a famed Edo Period potter of Kutani ware, in the event you want to follow that lead to see if your vase might be related to this family.

Good luck,

Bill H.

URL Title :Aoki Mokubei

Dear Bill,
thank you so much and, please, excuse me for my late reply: You did a real expert research about my pottery and I appreciate it.
Thank you again and kind regards,
Luciano

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