Many people and even collectors have been known to snub the porcelain wares of Asia believing them to be poor quality in comparison to those of Britain and Europe. HOW WRONG THEY ARE!
The finest quality porcelains originated in Asia (Korea, Japan, & China) and were traded to the Western countries in the early days. By 'early days' I don't mean 1940s or even 1900s. I'm talking 1600s & 1700s along the 'silk road' and by sea.
British & European manufacturers soon followed the Asian processes to develop and refine their own wares. Many of the Asian manufacturers continue to use these ancient methods to create to-days wares to meet with the high demand for fine china. From ancient to new Japanese porcelains remain highly sort by collectors the world over.
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| Vintage Antique Japanese Porcelain Vase- Fukagawa-Sei, 深川, Made by Fukagawa, Fukagawa, Arita, Japan. Imari Kiku Design (Chrysanthemum), Meiji Period 1868-1913 |
Fukagawa Porcelain Company is but one of these Asian porcelain companies who have continued to implement their traditional methods in to modern manufacturing, and have been the official supplier to the Imperial Household in Japan since 1910.
As they say " Fukagawa is a family, company and city " in Japan, equally with an enduring history.
I found this lovely Fukagawa vase recently and couldn't wait to share it with you. It features a rich cobalt blue underglaze (which means they painted the blue before applying a clear glaze and firing it to set it) with a gorgeous overglaze of traditional Japanese kiku design (chrysanthemums) in what is known as 'Imari' styled art work. Imari refers to the rich red, blue and gold art works, which often completely covered the porcelain ware but was so called to identify the wares that were being exported from the Japanese port of Imari. These ornate decorative wares were all applied by highly skilled artisans. No shaky hands here!
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| Mount Fuji & Stream Logo With "Made By Fukagawa" Japanese Characters |
Fukagawa-sei back stamped in blue features the Mount Fuji and stream logo, and characters of the Fukagawa Porcelain Company. Gotheborg indicates the historical use of this backstamp most likely to be c. 1900-1920, though backstamps are known to exceed their own time periods, just to confuse us all. This mark galls between both Meiji (1868-1913) and Taisho (1913-1926) periods and just reaches in to the Showa (1926-1988) period also. I estimate this piece to be c. late 1890s, having been guided by Gotheborg's following information.
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| Fukagawa 'Imari' Wares Rate Highly On The Collectors Market |
From www.gotheborg.com – “1891 the McKinley Tariff Act was instated, requiring items imported into the United States to be marked in English with the country of origin. The name "Nippon" was chosen for items coming from Japan. (Nippon is the Japanese name for Japan.) In 1921, the official country of origin name requirement was changed to "Japan", thus creating a defined time period 1891-1921 in which wares were marked Nippon. Previous to 1891, items were either not marked at all, or marked with Japanese characters. During the period 1921-1941 porcelain should be marked "Japan" and roughly after 1941, marked "Made in Japan", though numerous exceptions appears to occurs.”
You can now find this item in our Etsy Store
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