Dear Alexis,

The Cups you send in are recognized by me as Japanese Kutani ware from the 1930 / 1940ties. A good reference of the same production technic is called; ' geisha girl porcelain' . It seems to be called that way just because of the decoration. Kutani ware was made from the early days in the area around the town of Arita, in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island. Still today it is known for porcelain and pottery production. The mark is puzzling me. It is not te be found in regular reference guides and seems to depict the Imperial army flags; two crossed Japanese flags. Could be a sign that is made in the time of world war two but i'm not sure. Technic of making is; tranferprinting and partly handpainting. The basic representation is printed on the porcelain and then the colored parts are done by hand. Tranferprints were made to speed up the production process and therefor there are still a lot of these tea services around including teapots, sugar bowl and milk jug. These services were made for the western market and were very popular in Europe and USA in the 1930 ties up to the 1960 ties. My estimate is for 12 cups and saucers. These sets are not easy to sell; demand is quite low.

Still lovely sets and antiques for the future.

Regards,

Simon Breider