Antique (?) Japanese Tea Set With With Porcelain Marks That Are Not Uniform

Trying to identify and date this set, but having trouble finding the "Made In Japan" porcelain mark which looks to have another single character underneath. The marks on each piece also do not look the same. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few pics:

 

This is called lusterware ,between the turn of the century up until the 60s,they made literally zillions of these. Pretty,but not terribly rare or valuable. Go to ebay and look up Japanese Lusterware tea sets and youll see how many are out there.

 

Very pretty! And as long as the decor on the pieces matches, it doesn't matter that there are differences in the way Made In Japan is printed.

 

Thanks for the responses. I'm still curious about the character under "Made In Japan", and if the maker and age can be identified.

Also, are differing porcelain marks on a set common? Seems a bit odd to me.

 

I don't think the marks are different. What is different is the amount of ink that was applied to the mark.
The letter underneath could be a date letter or a decorator letter and not the company.

In 1921 the US import laws required items to be marked "Made in" what ever country. Prior to that just the country name appeared without the "Made in".

That lustre was very popular up to WWII. Not so much after, although some continued to be imported, as Johnny said.

 

Is this a very small set?
Looks a lot like some of the children's tea set patterns.

 

A pretty set.
The stamps are the same. just a little more or less ink or pressure applied.
As cluttered explained, they are not really marks, just a requirement for export. So the people in the factory didn't really care how well it was stamped, as long as it said made in Japan.

 

I have bought old 1920s-1930s American-made everyday dinnerware in sets, more than once. I have seen some pieces marked differently from others, and some unmarked, all in the same set. One thing I don't know is the history of the sets before they came to me. Although the patterns match they could have been pieced together by previous owners.

So that's one possible explanation if marks are different. As mentioned above, it's possible that these just had different amounts of ink used.

 

It's also possible that the set was made at more than one factory. It was not unusual for the white ware to be produced at multiple locations and then decorated by still another manufacturer or decorating company. Regardless, identifying the manufacturer does not help the value in this case.
Don

 

I never thought of that!

 

You see it more with hobbyist pieces especially. Here in the US I'll see a nice dresser set or tea set and when I turn it over I find out it carries three or four different manufacturer marks. Definitly a clue it's a hobbyist set although you might also see it with Pickard and other professional decorating studios in the Chicago area.
Don

 

Understood, but I'm still curious about the manufacturer. I find this stuff really interesting.

The Tea Pot is actually reasonably large, measuring 9" from spout to handle.

Thanks again to all for the info.

 

Finding the actual maker will be difficult.
Import companies used small cottage type industries to make their wares. Many times families were employed to make the imports or paint them.

When you here of Satsuma, Kutani etc. Those are not manufacturers, but areas where the wares were made.

If you are interested in learning more about Japanese ceramics/porcelains, you might find this site helpful.

http://www.gotheborg.com/marks/20thcenturyjapan.shtml

 

As AF would say, "just some guys in a (Japanese) shed" I'm afraid. I happen to like this sort of thing, myself. Reminds me of my grandmother.

 

Yes, it does look difficult to find manufacturers on many of these items. I was hoping maybe someone had a match that could be used for identification.

I have read through Gotheborg, which has a lot of great information and has helped me identify other pieces I have.

Thanks for your help. This site is fantastic