Chinese? Japanese? Porcelain Bowl

Hello and Happy Saturday everyone!

I have this little old porcelain bowl. Asian but from where? Can anyone tell me what the marks say and how old they think this bowl is? It's about 5" diameter and 2" tall.

I appreciate any help!

Juli

 

This is a tough one. I can't tell which country the mark is from. And worse than that, it looks like the red "glaze" and the dark colored swirls on top of that were cold-painted on and not baked on like an actual glaze. There are too many chips and other loses for a quality piece. I don't think it's very old at all, just beat up.

 

Thanks for responding! Yes, it has lots of wear to the decoration giving it an old look. I thought the darker "swirls" might be silver overlay. It does shimmer a little in spots.

So, do you think it was decorated like that to just give the impression it had age?

Would a closer picture of the mark help?

Thanks again!

Juli

 

I was thinking silver for the dark swirls too. Is there any thickness to what's still there, or just thin like paint?

I am not good at Chinese marks (which is what I was thinking these are.) @Dundun may be able to help?

 

I was thinking Chinese at first glance, but the delicate calligraphy of the marks on the bottom make me think Japanese. Might not have been silver overlay, but more like a silver paint/wash type decoration that does wear quickly. I think first half 20th c.

 

No, there's no texture to the "Silver" paint. None of the individual characters of the mark can be deciphered?

Thanks for the responses!

Juli

 

not every one has showed up yet............
@Asian Fever

 

I don't recognize any of the 3 characters as Japanese, but that doesn't mean they are not Japanese. Let's see if @Mat can shed any light on them.

 

Think it’s a Kutani mark, see 1033 @ gotheborg.
https://gotheborg.com/marks/kutani.shtml

 

I'm not so sure, Anund. I really don't see a good match between the top characters or between the third either. Maybe it's just the ideosyncracies of Japanese handwriting, though.

 

Thanks for the debate! Guess I'll list it on eBay as an unknown and see if it garners any interest.

I appreciate the help!

Juli

 

Comparing with 1033 in link from Anund, I guess the last character is the same one : 製. Zhi, which means ‘make/produce’.

But I cannot tell the other 2 characters. so I am not sure it’s chinese bowl or Japan one.

 

Thank you for looking, Dundun.

 

That is definitely early 20th c Japanese Kutani, the mark is , as often, poorly written, but I think it says "Watano sei", "Watano made"...

 

Thank you, Mat!