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Can you help? I was able to draw from the bottom of a vase this cartouche. It is red. I have little info about the vase except that the story is it was brought to the US in about 1945. Can you identify the whom, what, where and when just from this little info? Thank you.

NR

Also, I am not a seller or buyer.

NR, In Chinese the two characters would read from the top as "Ming Tao" (Ming Kiln or Ming Pottery). Ming is a surname and also the well-known dynasty. In Japanese the mark might read "Mei Tou" (Ming Pottery) if it's a tribute to the Chinese dynasty, or perhaps "Akira Tou" (Akira Pottery), among other potential transcriptions of Japanese proper names using the same character.
Regards,
Bill H.

Bill Hello,
Thank you for your reply! The "hunt" for the right identification makes for interesting research. I see why the forum members here would enjoy it. Anyway, as usual "more questions appear at every turn" (sounds like a line from an old detective movie).

Can you direct me to where I might look and what may need to be done (i.e. what steps to be taken) to get closer to an identification? Thank you again.

Cordially,
NR

The photo isn't sufficiently large or detailed enough to tell much about the vase, although it looks more like it may be Japanese porcelain with an iridescent glaze than cloisonne, which the mark also would indicate is the case. Cloisonne, by definition, should have some sort of wire ("cloison" in French) separating its colored enamel fields. However, Japanese metal enamelers do produce a so-called "wireless cloisonne" that is referred to as "musen" I believe.

Anyway, once you decide exactly what the vase is, then maybe you'll have a chance of dredging something up in a general search via Google or your other favorite internet search engine. Toward that end, I'm including here all of the transcriptions of the Japanese terms that I can find:

A. For "Ming" Character - Akira, Mei, Akari, Akashi, Satoshi, Tooru, Min, Akashio, Akajio, Akamine, Akaru, Aki, Akitsugu, Akinori, Akiraka, Akuru, Ake, Akesaki, Akemine, Akera, Asumi, Saya, Sayaka, Toshi, Haru, Hinata, Myou, Myoujin, Meishu

B. For "Tao" Character - Sue, Tou, Tao

All of the preceding is available at the link included herein for the online Japanese-English dictionary maintained by Jim Breen of the Australian Monash University, but you'll need to download Chinese and Japanese characters for it to work properly on your PC.

Good Luck,

Bill H.

URL Title :MonashUniv

Thank you. You have given me quite an education! I will respond when an ID and other information surface.

Cordially NR

Please advise on the era the vase come from

The top two marks are a ming mark. not sure of the other marks. What kind of vase is this mark on? Might help as I have some japanese cloisonne and netsuke books with signatures. However, the ming mark is usually chinese, but can appear on japanese pieces.

Jeannine Hello,

To start to answer you questions my lack of subject knowledge will show through :) Hope you dont mind.

I can relate a little background that may help. I have always admired the vase in a relatives home. The term used to describe it was "cloisonné" and the relatives' boyfriend was a pilot in asia during and immediately following WWII. Apparently the vase was a gift and after that the "boyfriend" went missing.

Decoration as I remember was a scene(s) of people in a garden, 1, 2 or three figures in a group. Very much "oriental" in look. Gold colored rim and decoration and a "vine" or flower stem winding. The (I'm assuming a pottery material, it wasn't metallic) surface had crackle(?).

Dimensions: about 10 inches tall, approximately this shape-- http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:nye_uHFIp733aM:http://www.carderglass.com/images/gold%2520aurene/bauurn01.jpg

Thank you for your interest in this matter!
Cordially,
NR

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