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I am hoping to find out the age of my 3 plates.
I believe they are Chinese in origin but not sure about how old. one has a mark.
thank you for your replies

Hi Yurike,

A quick look makes me think that the left and upper one are Chinese and from Ming period. The right one seems Japanese to me. I try to find out more (when I have time).

Regards,

Arjan

Hi Yurike,

I took some more time to look at your interesting pieces.
Till now I couldn’t find the mark on the (what I think is) Japanese one. The color of the blue seems from the old type so it’s probably made before 1870. I didn’t find a simular one so I don’t dare to give a narrower dating.
Looking at the 2 others I don’t see any reason to think they are fakes. The pictures are small but I can see the damages on the rims as one could expect.
Yesterday I already wrote that I thought they were Ming pieces and I like to narrow that now to Mid Ming and more specific around “ Hongzhi period” (could be a litle earlier, could be a little later).
You wrote that one of the pieces had a mark but if you look well you can see that in fact two pieces are marked.
If you look at the rimborder of the left one you can see that there are characters on it.
I show a picture (this is not from your’s) so you can see where to look for them. In the example it reads something like “ Hall filled with gold and jade” maybe when you post some bigger pictures Bill H. or others can read whats written on yours.

Regards,

Arjan

Hi Yurike & Arjan,

The character mark on the back of the apparent Japanese plate above is a seal script version of 貞. When flipped it would be read "Zhen" in Chinese, and "Tei", "Jou" or possibly "Tadashii" in Japanese.

In Chinese, this character means "Pure" or "Chaste", and also is linked closely to the "Book of Changes" (Yijing) and related divination. The latter context seems to be intended here, because the linked dot designs in the underside rim motif appear to represent stars in a constellation.

Perhaps someone there with an understanding of "Yijing" divination as practiced in Japan can offer comments on this angle.

As to the other plate, characters bordering the cavetto like this usually lend an auspicious saying or blessing to the decoration, as opposed to identifying a maker or artisan. As you note, better pictures may help identify these and their meaning.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Hi to all,
The Japanese plate in question with the mark of kanji character, tei, is Imari porcelain made by Kajiwara Teiichi, the potter in Kuromuta, Hizen, in the later Edo period. It possibly dates around 1830 - 1860. I am so glad to find this mark. It shows an evidence of the movement to liberate potters from the strict feudal rules, leading to the beginning of a new era in the Japanese history.
Thank you for sharing.
Emiko

Emiko, it's always nice of you to drop by and save my face with a truly informative posting.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Dear Emiko, thanks again.

I didn't game closer than ..."before 1870". Well it was close after all :-).

Regards,

Arjan

I wanted to thank everyone for their concise and helpful responses. Im hoping not to intrude on emiko on others by asking for help with another artist mark. The bottom looks like a Kutani mark to me.. but I having problems with the artist signature. Again thank you for all of your replies and help.

Hi Yurike,
Your porcelain in the picture is Daishoji Imari, made by Taniguchi Komakichi (1873-1925), made in the late Meiji period, 1890 - 1910. Daishoji Imari is an Imari revival porcelain made by the Kutani potters at that period.
Emiko

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