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Hello, I have a unusual 5 footed vase(?) that I am having a very hard time finding information on. I think I have narrowed it down to WHITE CLOUD HALL but this has only confused me more.I would greatly appreciate it if someone could give me a little more information on this. Thank you!

The mark says: Hakuundo 白雲堂 Shubei 周兵 Sei 製 - See picture.
Translation: White Cloud Hall (or trading shop), made by Shubei.
It's a mark of Kato Shubei 2nd (1848-1903).

In 1852 Kato Shubei 1st (1819-1900) opened a porcelain factory under the business name Hakuundo (White Cloud Hall). In 1877 his son adopted his father's name, when he became head of the family porcelain workshop. He then continued the family business under the name of Kato Shubei 2nd (1848-1903), producing porcelain items for export, especially to Britain and the U.S.A., with the Hakuundo signatures on the pieces.
In 1894 Shubei 2nd became the director of the Seto branch of the Five-Two Association. His preferred company status with Morimura-kumi led to a contract producing export dinner services, and in general focused his design efforts on the export market, including the 1897 establishment of the export-oriented "Pottery Trade Company". His factory closed in 1922.

Regards,
Martin

Martin Michels, I really appreciate you including a clip of the translation. Being a extreme novice, I had no idea which directions the characters went! Can you, or anyone tell me something about the shape? Thank you again!

I have further identified the mark
Hakuundo Shubi Sei as meaning: Made for the
White Cloud Hall by Shubei.The mark was used by
Kato Shubei II (1848-1903).
Has anyone seen this shape before? It's 6"H x 5"W

I checked online and determined that your vase is Japanese Seto Ware, with the mark of Kato Shubei II (1848-1903), standard characters are "白雲堂, 周兵製". I'll defer to our Japanese contributors as to transliteration.

Gotheborg.com has some good information on this family of potters at its Seto link under their section on "Japanese Marks".

Here are links to a few different examples of Japanese porcelain with this mark, some hand-painted and at least one blue & white piece that has transfer-decoration, as well as a mark like the one on your vase. Some dishes similar to those with Kato marks have been signed by other famous Japanese potters. Lots of research on this topic still needs to be done.

http://jd.cang.com/740014.html

http://blog.livedoor.jp/momo2011/archives/4240921.html

Perhaps you have windows, Google or another browser with translation capability to help
with the content.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank you Bill. I will certainly start doing my homework!

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