I am trying to find out about these vases. There are two almost identical vases, which I believe have been in my family for approx 90 years. I have tried to find other examples of this type of mark online without success.
Thank you
You are sure it is not a different item? This one looks fairly recent. At the most a few decades.
Thank you for your comment. I have known these two vases all my life (I am 49). They are owned by my mother and before 1982, by my grandparents. I believe they were given to my 2x great aunt by her employers when she was in service in a house in Edinburgh, c1920 (maybe earlier).
These are the only oriental items we have ever had, so I know I am not confusing them for another piece.
I first thought they were Chinese, but have recently seen a similar shaped mark on a Japanese item, so possibly Japanese?
Identification should not be done via mark because this can be misleading. Chinese and Japanese porcelain used marks which are not their own all the time.
Better upload more detailed pictures.
The glaze looks exactly like that of more recent products. The attire of the children may also give hints to when an item could have been made. For example, it is possible to see attire of earlier times in later items, but the opposite is not possible.
Please also provide closeups of glaze on side, bottom area and foot rim. Partial will be fine, but minute details are important.
Thank you very much, that is all really useful advice. I will certainly get a better range of photos next time I visit my mother. Unfortunately it may not be for a while as we do not live locally.
Thank you for your help.
Fiona
I have managed to get some more photos of our vases. I will upload photos of the first vase with this message and the second one in the following message. I hope the quality is good enough to see details. You will notice that the first vase has some damage to one of the figures where the head has been repaired.
Thank you.
Second vase
This could be Japanese. The blue and white of the clothing of one of the boys also looks Japanese. If the legs are bare, as it looks in the pictures, then this would also conform to this, because of the type of clothing.
The mark is not Chinese, and the item does not look like a traditional, 90 year old Chinese item. I would look for a Japanese origin.
Just to clarify, they have been in our family for approx 90 years, but were a gift from a house in Edinburgh where my relative was in service. So I suspect them to be older that that.
Thank you anyway for your help. I will certainly look into the possibility that they could be of Japanese origin.
The only Japanese items like this that I am familiar with is called Sumida ware, but it has a very distinct look and is very recognizable, this dose not look like anything Sumida that I have seen, it looks Japanese to me but it also looks like a modern copy of Sumida, I hope Im pronouncing it correctly, Sumida that is.
Right Stan. There is a Sumida river in Tokyo. An image search for Sumida will produce a lot of examples of this pottery.