I was given some antique china....
 

As a thank you gift I was given some antique china. At first I was overwhelmed with this gift, my house is full and I don't have room for any more stuff. But then I moved things around in my china cabinet and on the side board where some other china pieces rest.
It came in a big box. I did not know what was in the box and it was heavy. This was from a client of mine whose aunt passed away(who was also a client of mine) She knew of my collection of china so she gifted me these dishes. I called right away to thank her and she said she thought they dated prior to WW2.
The box included a set of bright orange dishes with 14 karat gold plated cups and saucers and tea pot and sugar and creamer and 6 salad plates. They are hand painted with flowers and a blue bird, the cups have gold on the inside. I took a piece to an antique mall today and the owner said they were collectable and had value.I will try to post a picture of them so you guys can see them.
They are very pretty and actually fit right in with the rest of my collection.
They are marked Chikaramachi, hand painted and made in japan. The owner said he thought they were from the 30's. I tried researching alittle and found nothing that came even close to what these look like. They are very unusual being solid bright orange!
any of you like china or collect items?
Over the years I have collected cups and saucers, elephants and blue glass items.
bizi

Bizi

These pieces sound so neat.

Donna:grouphug:

found this at one site:
Chikaramachi, Made In Japan. In use on porcelain made at the Noritake factory, Chikaramachi branch, during 1928-1946. Mark occurs in black and red. Porcelain intended for the United Kingdom market uses "Foreign" instead of Made in Japan. Same factory also used a mark with a crown inside a wreath. After the Noritake Morimura Gumi period that ended 1946, the factory changed name to Hinode Shokai.

such a nice gift
 

Bizi,

They sound lovely. Get a picture if you can.

M

some photos for you:
There are 2 sets of orange dishes, I just received the set on the right.
I think my side board looks way too cluttered...it will grow on me.
bizi
the other cups and saucers are in our living room and you can see my water color (from a long time ago) on a chair on the left. It needs to be framed and hung!

beautiful
 

Thank you, Bizi,

We like looking at such lovely pieces.

M

those are beautiful bizi :)

I can't see too clearly, but they look like what is known as Lusterware, which was mainly made in Japan during the early 20th Century, tho some other places also had Lusterware makers, including in Europe and the USA. Some of the pieces can be quite valuable! especially when they have that enamel paint decoration of birds and flowers. Lusterware has a lustrous (iridescent) look

Are any of the pieces marked on the bottom with a maker's stamp or code?

These are not luster ware. the inside of the cups and creamer are 14caret gold and the outside are hand painted solid orange. the maker is chikaramachi, made in japan and hand painted a wreath around a crown.
thanks for looking at them.
bizi
Mark Brown, wnantqs@verizon.net said... CHIKARAMACHI, An Early Member of the Noritake Family
by Marshall (Mark) Brown

The name Chikaramachi has been an integral part of the history of Noritake china since 1896. Little documentation exists today because nearly all the early records were lost when an incendiary bomb destroyed the home offices of Noritake on 19 March 1945. In the rubble and ashes were over 50 years of one-of-a-kind porcelain samples, ceramic molds, original drawings and sketches, registration records, etc.

The Morimura brothers, Ichizaemon and Toyo, first founded Morimuragumi (Morimura Association) in Tokyo as a Japanese goods export business, and the Hinode Company in New York in 1876. By 1882, they realized the great potential for chinaware and gradually developed what would become Noritake as their main line of merchandise. Existing records indicate that Morimuragumi had already established several exclusive porcelain decorating factories in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nagoya by 1884. In 1896, land was purchased to construct 5 buildings to consolidate the entire decorating process in Nagoya and the project was completed in 1899. Of significance is the name of one of the two parallel streets between which the buildings were constructed, Shumokucho and Chikaramachi.

The first Chikaramachi back stamp was registered in 1912. It consists of the Chinese ideograph character for tree within a circle surrounded by the words CHIKARAMACHI above and MADE IN JAPAN below. Noritake referred to this as the MARU-KI backstamp. There are no records indicating the significance of the blue, green or red color varieties.

The second series of three backstamps was registered in 1928. A crown within a laurel wreath had the word CHIKARAMACHI in a semi-circle above and MADE IN JAPAN in a straight line below. This mark appears in green or black. The second mark is red and consists of a slightly smaller crown within a laurel wreath with two lines in a semi-circle above CHIKARAMACHI and HANDPAINTED, and a semi-circle below, MADE IN JAPAN. The third mark is a samurai helmet with the word Chikaramachi in script in a semi-circle above, and MADE IN JAPAN in a straight line below. It is unknown what color varieties were produced. There are variations of the backstamps with the words FOREIGN or IMPORT used in place of MADE IN JAPAN. This was for those pieces exported to England.

Although it is unknown why Noritake developed and identified Chikaramachi as a separate line, there are several indicators that point to it being an apprenticeship program. First, the quality of the porcelain of many Chikaramachi pieces is quite crude having numerous imperfections and rough, unfinished edges. Second, the painting on many of the pieces is not up to Noritake standards with little consistency in layout and a definite lack of finesse in the brushwork. Yet, there are pieces that are the equal of the best of Noritake, almost as if they were produced on a trial basis to perfect the design before allowing their integration into the parent company lines. It's not known when they stopped using the Chikaramachi back marks, but all production, along with U.S. exports, ceased in 1942.

My sincere appreciation to Keishi Suzuki of Noritake Co, Nagoya, for his research in the company files, and to Mineko Sherrod for introducing me to Keishi.
January 28, 2010 4:11 PM

Lovely!
 

Thank you so much for sharing Bizi!

They are beautiful pieces! :):):)

~ waves ~

What a wonderful gift. THey are so full of personality! How thoughtful for them to find a place in your home. When you look at them recall what a special person you are to the people you help.
Di:hug: