Japanese Porcelain Books

[bokaba]

Hi Stan,

What books would you suggest on Japanese porcelain, satsumsa, etc.? I currently have the Schiffer Japanese Porcelain 1850-1950 book.

Thank you,

Bokaba

[Stan]

Hi Bokaba, Schiffer1850 - 1950 has an expanded 2nd edition from 1800 - 1950 but I will say it is pretty vague, although it has great pictures, it sees to me to not be very informative, it is not like Chinese that has many books on the subject, Japanese is limited it seems, I find that the book on marks and seals by James Lord Bowes is good on marks  and seals but it too is vague and references everything to Old Japan, leaving you wondering how old even when you find the mark, I find searching at the high Auctions and looking at things that have sold " Past Auctions" help the most, Schiffer also has several books on Satsuma with great Pictures, but there again leaves you wondering about details like age or sometime the maker, even though there is a mark with nothing said about it. Another book by Hazel H Gorham is good, it is very informative but no pictures except hand drawn copies of designs. If you find a good book on the subject please let me know.

[bokaba]

Thanks Stan. I am going to order a copy of Japanese Ceramics of the Last 100 Years by Irene Stitt. It looks fairly good and has about 350 images (sadly mostly back and white). I am asking for suggestions on other forums as well.

Bokaba

[Stan]

The high auction houses are a good source because you see what has sold for what, like Christies for example, you can go to past auctions and search under japanese porcelain and you will see all that has sold and sometimes not often you can look at high resolution photos  and the information is very descriptive, but most of my knowledge came from collecting and studying what I have, experience is the best teacher, make sure what you purchase is something you like incase you want to sell and can not, this way it is something you do not mind keeping.

[bokaba]

I will look into some of the auction catalogs. I found this guide for the Tanakamaru collection:

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Japanese_Ceramics_from_the_Tanakamaru_Collection?Tag=porcelain&title=&author=&pt=0&tc=0&dept=0&fmt=0#

There are a number of publications on Japanese and Chinese collections available for free on the Metropolitan Art Museum website.

Bokaba