Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

Good day. I was recently given this creamer (just under 2 1/2 inches tall, about 5 1/2 inches wide spout to handle), and would like to find out more about it. The bottom reads :Hand Painted Nippon", and there is a mark I haven't been able to figure out. The creamer is prominently decorated with gold painted swastikas, and the artwork appears generally well done. I would greatly appreciate any information relating to the age and manufacturer of this piece. Many thanks in advance

The website gotheborg.com has an entry on this mark, wherein the phonetic characters ビビ (pronounced "Bibi"), have been associated with a firm that imported Japanese porcelain into Beiruit and possibly other locations in the Middle East from the 1930s to 1960's.

Best regards,

Bill H.

the mark reads "Bibi", see a similar mark on the picture below.

Bibi seems to be the name of a family import firm that imported porcelain from Japan to Lebanon during the 1950's and 1960's. This porcelain had a Bibi mark on it and was sold in Beirut. The family might also have had a porcelain import business in Palestine in the 1930's and 1940's before they were forced to flee in 1947.
(Source: Gotheborg.com).

Regards,
Martin.

Bill and Martin -- Many thanks to you both. An intriguing bit of history.

Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |