Seirando (Kawajiri Kihei)
c. 1868–1912
大日本九谷 青藍堂製
The 青藍堂 studio name inside the rectangle identifies this form; 大日本 alone is not an exact date.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Country guide
Kutani mark
Kutani is a porcelain tradition of Ishikawa Prefecture, centred on Kaga, Komatsu, Nomi and Kanazawa, rather than a single factory. Its early history begins in the seventeenth century. The original kilns stopped around the beginning of the eighteenth century; production revived in the nineteenth century through several kilns and workshops. Yoshidaya revived production in 1824 and moved its kiln to Yamashiro in 1826. Brilliant overglaze enamels, red painting and gold decoration developed into different Kutani styles.
Key makers’ marks
13 marks
Watano; Nishimura Saichi (decorator)
c. 1868–1912
Two red columns: merchant and province at right, painter at left
The separate painter column identifies Nishimura; Watano is the merchant or producer name, not that painter.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Wataya (probably Wataya Heibei)
c. 1868–1912
九谷造 綿谷製
綿谷 reads Wataya; distinguish it from the similar merchant name 綿野 or 綿埜, Watano.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Unidentified Kutani workshop
Undated
福
The square 福 seal is a blessing rather than an individual signature; it also occurs on later wares.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Higashi Fujiaki
Undated
九谷 富士明
富士明 names the decorator; the blue-green square differs from the plain regional 九谷 marks.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Kaburaki
Undated
加賀 九谷 鏑木製造
Read 鏑木 as the business name; the foundation date does not date this particular stamp.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Unidentified Kutani workshop
Undated
九谷
The double square and blue script distinguish this design from the red open-script regional marks.
underglaze painted · porcelain · Japan
Unidentified Kutani workshop
Undated
九谷製
製 means made; there is no individual maker name in this three-character form.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Momota
Undated
百田造
The fan-shaped reserve and right-to-left name separate this version from a plain Momota signature.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Takayama
Undated
高山画
画 identifies the painter; distinguish 高山 from other names ending in 山.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Uchida / Uchita
Undated
九谷 打田製
The lower 打田製 signature identifies the name; 九谷 at the top is the regional designation.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Watano Trading Company
Undated
大日本 綿埜製
The 埜 character in 綿埜 differs from 野 in another Watano spelling; compare the complete signature.
painted · porcelain · Japan
About Kutani marks
Export production expanded during the Meiji period, 1868–1912. Workshops, painters and merchants could all contribute to one object. Kaburaki sold and commissioned decorated porcelain in Kanazawa, while Watano and Wataya names appear on export wares. Kutani Shoza’s workshop helped establish elaborate gold decoration. A merchant’s name therefore need not identify the potter who formed the body.
The characters 九谷 read Kutani. Additional characters may identify a workshop or painter: 製 and 造 indicate making, while 画 indicates painting. Read a vertical inscription from the top down, taking the right-hand column before the left. 福, meaning good fortune, is an auspicious mark shared by different workshops. It also occurs on later pieces and other Japanese porcelains. Compare the whole mark, porcelain body and decoration together; neither red lettering nor a square seal gives a date by itself.
How to read the marks
Start inside the foot rim, then check for a second signature or label elsewhere on the base.
Find 九谷 before reading additional columns; preserve their arrangement.
Read vertical columns from top to bottom and normally from right to left.
Separate merchant or workshop names from a painter named beside 画.
Compare seals and characters exactly, especially Wataya 綿谷 and Watano 綿野/綿埜.
Key makers
Kaburaki
Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan · 1822–present
Merchant and decorating business producing and commissioning Kutani tableware and ornaments.
Kutani Shoza
Terai, Ishikawa, Japan · Workshop established 1841; Shoza lived 1816–1883.
Gold-decorated export porcelain.
Yoshidaya kiln
Kutani, then Yamashiro, Ishikawa, Japan · Founded 1824; moved 1826; subsequent owners used the kiln site until 1940.
Revival Kutani porcelain, especially green, yellow, blue and purple decoration.
Watano Trading Company
Ishikawa; export offices in Kobe and Yokohama, Japan · Meiji-period business spanning three generations.
Export porcelain commissioned or marketed under the Watano name.
Wataya
Japan; Yokohama export shop · Meiji period.
Decorated Kutani export porcelain.
Higashi Fujiaki
Japan · Twentieth century; born in 1928.
Painted Kutani porcelain.
Momota
Japan · Early twentieth-century example.
Decorated Kutani porcelain.
Nishimura Saichi
Japan · Meiji-period examples.
Painted decoration on porcelain marketed by Watano.
Seirando (Kawajiri Kihei)
Kobe, Japan · Meiji period.
Kobe studio producing decorated Kutani porcelain.
Takayama
Japan · Early twentieth-century example.
Painted Kutani porcelain.
Uchida / Uchita
Japan · Undated.
Signed Kutani porcelain.
Look-alikes & fakes
Satsuma-style decorated porcelain
Gilded figures and dense decoration can resemble Satsuma. Check the porcelain body and full inscription; decorative style alone does not identify the kiln.
Arita / Imari 福 marks
福 is also found on Arita and Imari porcelains; compare the complete object and inscription rather than assigning every square 福 to Kutani.
Later Ko-Kutani-style reproductions
Later dishes repeat early palettes and square 福 marks. A Ko-Kutani-style design is not a seventeenth-century date.
Related marks
9 marksCharles Sadek Import Co. Inc.Maker name
Undated
Charles Sadek Import Co. Inc.
label · New Rochelle
Sticker with "Andrea by Sadek" on a Japanese Kutani item.
c. 1868–1912
Seirando (Kawajiri Kihei)
The 青藍堂 studio name inside the rectangle identifies this form; 大日本 alone is not an exact date.
painted · porcelain · Japan
c. 1868–1912
Wataya (probably Wataya Heibei)
綿谷 reads Wataya; distinguish it from the similar merchant name 綿野 or 綿埜, Watano.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Undated
Higashi Fujiaki
富士明 names the decorator; the blue-green square differs from the plain regional 九谷 marks.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Undated
Kaburaki
Read 鏑木 as the business name; the foundation date does not date this particular stamp.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Undated
Unidentified Kutani workshop
The double square and blue script distinguish this design from the red open-script regional marks.
underglaze painted · porcelain · Japan
Undated
Unidentified Kutani workshop
製 means made; there is no individual maker name in this three-character form.
painted · porcelain · Japan
Undated
Uchida / Uchita
The lower 打田製 signature identifies the name; 九谷 at the top is the regional designation.
painted · porcelain · Japan