(Likely) Japanese Kinrande Hexagonal Double-Gourd Vase

[TKNZ]

Hi all,

I jut got in a couple of bits and pieces from Japan today and this was among them. It's a fairly heavy (about 32cm high) hexagonal double-gourd vase with a kinrande dragon motif over a blue background.
I'm pretty sure this is a later Japanese production based on the type of 16th C Ming kinrande wears that were exported to Japan, as they're the only examples I've come across of fairly abstract gold decoration over a blue monochrome background. However, it seems like it may have some age to it, as the inside is quite dirty, the base is worn, and the gold decoration has become dull and thin in some places. The glaze over the mark on the foot also has numerous trapped bubbles, which is a firing fault I thought had been eliminated by at least the turn of the 20th C in Japanese wares (though I am happy to be corrected if wrong). It seems that there were two contrasting types of gold decoration used as there is finer painting over the blobbier forms, although it is barely distinguishable unless you look closely (perhaps due to wear or tarnishing/dulling?).

I think the mark reads "??" in Japanese, although my reading skills aren't great and I may be wrong. I've had a go at searching using this name but so far have turned up nothing.

If anyone has any idea of how old this might be, I'd appreciate it as I'm struggling myself. It could really be anywhere from Edo to mid 20th C and very worn and dirty, for all I know. Also, although I'm fairly certain it's Japanese, I guess there's a slim chance it could be Chinese export (I do find this prospect highly doubtful, though, as the written mark couldn't be construed as any sort of auspicious saying which so much of the export ware in this style seems to have used). Really, any information/opinions at all would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Thomas.

NB: I've uploaded the bulk of pictures here as compressing them to fit in the post made the quality unbearable - imgur.com/a/x0lXHif

[TKNZ]

Base photo.

[peterp]

Maybe not that old. I cannot help with the item itself, but the mark is not ??, as you assumed. That would be Awaji, a place name. The left side of the first character is different.

[Stan]

I agree with Peter, it looks fairly modern, the shape and decoration, not sure about the mark.

[TKNZ]

Hi Stan and Peter,

Thanks for your thoughts - I guess it probably is a modern piece, though I wouldn't like to say that it's more recent than Showa. I thought it could have been earlier as I had initially surmised it was based off the type of export ware at this link (https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=355358001&objectid=227691) which has been around since the Ming period, but I suppose they weren't producing that form in Japan until more recently... I think the bubbling on the glaze of the base might just be sloppy work and not an indicator of age like I had initially thought.

Thanks,
Thomas.

[Stan]

Hi TKNZ, thanks for the link to the British Museum, the one at the British Museum is Ming Dynasty, Jiajing made in Jingdezhen, however on yours the dragon is not a traditional dragon found on Antique porcelain and the shape is Chinese not Japanese but this one looks like it could have been made made in Japan in the Showa period on the later side I would think.