Crackle Glaze Brush Pot/Vase

[kardinalisimo]

I am guessing that it is Japanese Satsuma. I think it does have some age but I have not seen such a decoration.
What is interesting to me is why underglaze blue was used? There are mostly dark/brown colors but you can see the blue showing here and there.

[Stan]

Hi kardinalisimo, why do you think it is Satsuma, traditional Satsuma is usually covered with gold and decorated mostly in red, with applied blues and sometimes green and brown colors, your brush holder dose have a tan glazed bottom that satsuma has but the rest dose not fit with Satsuma style.
However your vase dose look old and not being marked, it was probably made for the Japanese.

[kardinalisimo]

You are right about the traditional Satsuma but the term is used to describe different types of decorations. It is usually eartheware, ivory colored and with crackled glaze. But if you google Satsuma you will see all kind of pottery described as such.
There are not a lot of online sources about Japanese ceramics( comparing to Chinese) so I always struggle to figure the age and other details.
I really don't see the purpose of using blue paint in this particular decoration. 

[Stan]

The early Satuma was always as I described, the Newer Satsuma is still being made today dose not use gold because of costs, also the bottom on your brush holder looks newer to me now that I look at it closer, Have you tried www.gotheburg.com they have Chinese and Japanese.

[kardinalisimo]

I peek at gotheburg when I need to ID a mark but it is hard to me to date Japanese pieces without one. Maybe the pot it is newer. I do find some age though. I've always find it amazing how few hundred years fine Chinese pieces look like made yesterday.

[peterp]

You should clarify the size as it may contribute to understanding what it could be. I know only two or three uses for items shaped like this, but they depend on the size. The smaller ones would be brush pots, the larger ones are either incense (stick) containers or hat stands. But, the latter were mainly used in China.

While the tree is painted in a traditional painting style used both in Japan and China, the deer looks more modern. I would guess this item is at the most a few decades old.

[peterp]

...continued

I think it is necessary to keep the possibility of a more recent item in mind, though. The bottom looks old on the surface, but is a bit strange, actually.
I would check this:
1) There are crackles, but the bottom has a color as if it was left unglazed. So, is the bottom covered with a transparent glaze? There can only be crackles if there is a glaze!
2) It looks as if the brownish color is below the transparent glaze, is this correct?
If both 1) and 2) are true, I would forget about this - then it is a modern product (trying to look old), or it is not porcelain.
Porcelain requires the presence of Kaolin, which is white. When a decoration is added on Kaolin and the whole is covered with a transparent glaze, after firing the base color is white, because of the white Kaolin. If the Kaolin is not pure or mixed with another clay, the color may differ.
Now comes the point I want to make...if the brown color of the bottom is below the transparent glaze, then the bottom was first made to look dirty, and then transparent glaze was added. Or, alternatively there was no or little Kaolin content in the clay, and the white ground color on the side comes from white additives in the glaze; possible but unlikely in my view. Or, the third possibility, after the item was fired with an unglazed bottom the transparent glaze was added later and the item was possibly fired a third time, another unlikely scenario. Time is money with such relatively low-cost items, even in China. Also, items with an unglazed base will have a darkened bottom after a long time, but it (the dirt) can mostly be washed off. If it cannot be removed, then the bottom was possibly treated to look old.

I cannot see anything that looks specifically Japanese in the decoration or shape, but I can see something Chinese, namely an effort to produce an item with an old looking bottom. But I would not think this is a fake per se. It is too obvious for that, in my view.

[kardinalisimo]

I am not very familiar with the techniques and firing terms but here is what I can tell.
The pot is 10" tall.
Bottom foot rim is brown, unglazed.
Bottom is brown and glazed. Not sure if brownish color is below or above the transparent glaze.
On few spots you can see brown on the body. So I guess the whole piece was initially brownish and then covered with that white glaze.
When you look inside, you will see that the surface is kind of ribbed, like bands circling around.

All this means nothing to me so I hope it will tell more to you.

[Stan]

I will say one thing for sure it is not Satsuma.