Made in Japan Tea set
Good condition, I don't see chips, pattern is clear. 3 plates, three cups and a tea pot. The cups are painted on the inside and out. The stamps on the bottom are all slightly different but the pattern is the same.
Gift to a parent some time ago.
Inherited
Yes
Dear Katina,
Greetings and thank you for reaching out to the experts at Mearto to assist you in evaluating your vintage, Japanese porcelain tea set. I know you mention there is a tea pot but the image you have provided illustrates a sugar bowl, is the set larger than you mention? I also noticed that the lid of the sugar bowl appears to have been glued.
Either way, let me tell you about what you have. The base that is only lettered in Japanese characters was made by Matsukawa. The base translates to Matsukawa Dai Nippon or 'Made in Japan by Matsukawa'. This is the oldest of the back-stamps you have submitted and will date to circa 1900. The other two companies are early 20th century companies.
In this state the set would sell at auction in the $25 - $30USD range but if you have follow-up information that may change the nature of my evaluation, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll re-evaluate the service for you.
Kindest Regards,
Erin-Marie
You are so welcome Katina,
When I was evaluating your set, I was thinking the same thing about the patterns! It did make me wonder if perhaps all pieces of the set were made by Matsukawa and the other back-stamps simply represent a later period in time, but the same maker. In 1890 the (McKinley) Tariff Act was passed and required items produced for export (like these) to be marked with their country of origin. While the change didn't occur overnight, companies would have had to begin the change their logos to compete in the market.
From what I can tell the designs were made with a combination of stencils and hand painting so they would have been able to reproduce the design over time. If you have any further questions, just ask.
Kindest Regards,
Erin-Marie Wallace MA, AU
Thank you for the information! It is so interesting to me that each piece has exactly the same design but is made at different times. There are two lids and one is glued and one is not.