Doucai Teapot

[kardinalisimo]

Never seen a real antique doucai piece but this one looks to me like if not recent maybe vintage but not antique.
Like the handle does not seem to be that old but don't know if it is original.
The paints look too fresh but again I don't know what they should be and if the colors and the hues are the right ones. Also, that spout strainer ball on the inside. Were the teapots made like that back then?
The only more significant wear I see is on the foot rim.
The bottom is unglazed if that would mean anything.
And finally, the mark, no idea what it reads.

Any help will be welcomed!
Thanks

[peterp]

This is apparently Japanese, and printed. The mark says "Nabeshima"...

[Stan]

Hi Peter, and Kardinalisimo, The Japanese have been printing " Transfer ware", since the late 19th century not like the Chinese, correct me if I'm wrong but the Chinese started their transfer ware in the late 20s and up, however the tea pot doesn't look that old.

[kardinalisimo]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah, Peter has said it before that the transferware developed very late in China. It was interesting to learn about Nabeshima ware.  I guess the true antique and fine ones would have painted underglaze blue as they were made during late 17th to 18th century but I think they kept producing them of lesser quality till late 19th. Don't know if transfer was ever used. Of course they kept making replicas of the style and maybe they are made at present days as well.
I would guess mine is probably vintage but hard how to tell when exactly it was made.
By the way, Peter, do you know if  the mark reads just Nabeshima or there is something else? Like a kiln, region or artist name?

[Stan]

The original Nebeshima porcelain also sat on higher than usual footings, and had 4 colors red, blue green and yellow.

[peterp]

There is a name, but I do not know if it is a family name or place name, as names frequently appear for either of the two. And I cannot tell you how it reads, because names written the same may be read differently, depending on the person or place. A Japanese specialty! More than one reading for the same characters.
Anyway, if you search for Nabeshima, you will find the area. It is the old Han or clan, most likely.

BTW, as it is printed it cannot be doucai. With doucai the blue outlines are below the glaze and the color fillings on top of it.

[kardinalisimo]

Peter, I am not sure if the pictures show the decoration right. Only the blue is transfer, the green, red and yellow are painted over the glaze.
So, in general to me it seems like the original Nabeshima was like the Chinese doucai  - blue, glaze, fire, overglaze enamels and fire again. Maybe the difference is that in doucai the blue was used only for contours, while Nabeshima ware used blue for whole images. So, more like Blue and White Wucai?

Also, seems like the original Nabeshima pieces had the underglaze blue painted. Not sure if I understand this right, but are they saying that in this late 17th - early 18th century plate, the blue was transferred? Or only the design was temporarily sketched on the body  but the blue outlines were still painted?

http://www.asiasocietymuseum.org/region_object.asp?RegionID=6&CountryID=14&ChapterID=44&ObjectID=469

[Stan]

Hi kardinalisimo, it appears that transfer ware in Japan has been around a lot longer than I thought, I would never have thought that it went back to 18th century, the earliest Japanese transfer ware that I have seen was 19th century, thanks for sharing that,

[kardinalisimo]

Stan, how do you read the information on that website? That the blue was printed, right?
I don't know if the information on that page is correct. I cannot find any references indicating that transfer printing was used in Japan that early. Everything points to 19th century. If that plate was indeed decorated with transfer blue under the glaze that would mean Japanese invented the method before the English people(mid 18th C.). The only thing I could think of is that the plate is not early 18th century but later or the blue was hand painted but not transferred.

[Stan]

Hi kardinalisimo, I did a little research my self, I know it was the English that invented the transfer ware in 1750 at that time they were making tile plaques blue and white, this went on for about 80 years before they started using it on plates 1830 is the earliest that I have found, but during the 1800s it was the english that predominantly used this process , I tried to find early Japanese transfer ware  and the earliest I found was late 19th century, Nebeshima porcelain was a rich mans porcelain, it was made for the nobilities of that time, I can't imagine that Nebeshima porcelain used that process because it was created for the middle class, I think you are right in being suspicious about that site, I think everything would have been hand drawn at that time also the plate that they use for an example looks modern, it looks like high fired porcelain which did not come into existence until the late 19th century.