Posted 9 years ago
Stillwater
(217 items)
I found this a few months ago at an antique mall, and I posted it on a FB page for identifying Japanese ceramics. There was a lot of debate, and eventually one of the members, a Japanese-American professor emeritus at the University of California in Chico, found a similar piece with the same mark on a Japanese website. He identified it as "Touka-Saku" and that was what I wrote down, but I couldn't find any similar pieces.
But nonetheless, I've never seen a piece of Kutani like this before. The beak is gold-gilt and the feathers have a tri-colored raised enamel of blue, pink, and white. Its really a great piece, and I got it for very, very cheap. The owner of the booth it was found it had labeled it "Porcelain duck, signed." I'm guessing she thought it was European (and obviously it not a duck.)
That's why antique malls are a good place to find Asian antiques. A lot of people are 100% unfamiliar with them because you can't look at the mark and Google it, or at least most people don't know *how* to, but it is possible if you are familiar with kanji.
I go to antique malls *specifically* looking for Asian antiques only, because I figure that everything else there that has marks in English has been Googled and priced at retail, so I can find rare Asian stuff for a bargain that dealers aren't able to Google, like yixing teapots. for example. Those things can go into the thousands and I occasionally find them for low double-digit prices with a tag that reads "Asian Teapot."
How lovely it is !
A duck, huh....well, you got a "duckie" of a deal! I'm still looking for that Yixing teapot. I saw one sell on "Bargain Hunt"(BBC) for more than 400 Pounds. Bought for 30 Pounds in a shop. The dealer didn't know what it was so let it go cheap.
That's a beauty. I'd call the decoration moriage.
I called it moriage on the FB page and they got all mad at me saying it wasn't moriage. I think there's some debate on what "moriage" actually is, but I agree with you, I always thought it just referred to raised enamel, though some people think it refers to a specific type of slip ware
Efesgirl - Yeah I've sold yixing teapots for over a thousand USD. I have a 19th century enameled one right now I bought for like 5 bucks
What is a yixing teapot?
BEAUTIFUL !!
who assessed this, gritt mark , no meijji influences ?