Satsuma questions

hi all,
recently found these mirror image vases and looking for confirmation they are probably Satsuma early 20th C?, I also have the following questions.

What is the subject matter? Are they Courtiers, Officials , priests ?? I can't find anything similar....although many have 'geishas', Kannon/immortals etc.
Any reason why they are unmarked except for something on the rim?
Does this suggest they are older for instance? or just mass produced.

Any insights welcome to help me track down more about them
regards
PS they are a foot high

 

They look like courtiers. I don't know the more elaborate headdresses, but the tall ones are worn by courtiers.

The fans could be regular folding fans, but they could also be steel fighting fans.

There is a repeated floral 'mon', family crest, around the base. That could be significant.

 

I think these are Japanese, turn of the 20th c. into the 1930s I'm guessing. I also think courtiers. Odd that there is no mark to show country of origin as I would think these are export ware.

 

All makes sense, except for the mon part I didn't get, pics of similar vases all have this floral pattern in gold on the cobalt blue ground apparently they didn't go well together and is easily worn off as you can see by the shoulders where it is virtually gone. I guess it could indicate a particular family business enterprise?

 

yes thats what made me curious, they should have been marked by that time 20s-30s but apparently older satsuma isn't , but this isn't that old, I don't know when this style was first produced...?

 

thanks for your replies, any idea what the mark on the rim is?

 

that kanji means 10 apparently but it can also mean completeness, so maybe just a mark showing the vase decoration was 100% finished. Could it be that simple.

 

Good thought. Also maybe marked that way so that the 2 vases are recognized as a pair after firing? My other thought is that perhaps there was a paper label glued to the base to show country of origin and has since been washed away. But that's pure speculation on my part.