Pottery marks

Like a lot of people, I'd love to know the history of some of my pots. I mean, if they turn out to be cheap Chinese production pots, I'll continue to use them, and appreciate the look, but if there is something more then it adds to the story, and that's always a good thing! If anyone has an idea on them, I'd love to know. Thanks!

This is a blue glazed, shallow rectangle pot that has an Asian chop at the bottom. Someone said the glaze looked like a Namako finish.





This next is a tall unglazed cascade with an interesting scallop between the feet and what looks like a Western signature at the bottom (but I don't recognize who):





Thanks for looking. I have others to ask about but thought I'd throw these out first to check..

Hello Joey,
Your pots shown today are Reiho, which is higher end Tokoname ware, and Jack Hoover.
Ryan
Http://JapaneseBonsaiPots.net

Thank you Ryan, you're a walking encyclopedia!! By the way, I love your blog, been following for a while.

Here are a couple more:

brown oval with "z" mark (I've chalked the mark to make it more visible):





Blue TINY square with the same "z" mark:





Here is an unusual shaped round blue pot. I asked a local pot collector, and he said it was most likely a woman who lived East, and was active in Bonsai 25 years ago. Looks kind of like CMP to me:



a rounded unglazed square, I put chalk in the mark to make it clear:







little purple oval, Asian mark:

Joey,
The last 2 are Yixing and Tokoname, respectively. Can't remember the name of the maker on the Tokoname pot, pretty sure it's on my chops page though. I've don't know the first 2 chops, you may have some luck searching through the Brandywine Bonsai Society Potters page, they have a bunch of American potters marks archived there.
Ryan
Http://JapaneseBonsaiPots.net/

Thank you Ryan! Now that you say it's Yxing.. I can see the look of the clay is similar. I had looked through your chops page for them but didn't notice that other mark. Of course, my eyes aren't trained to pick out the design, so it's possible I've missed it each time. Knowing it's a Tokoname is terrific. Brandywine doesn't have these two Western marks either. The search continues I suppose! Thanks so much for taking a look at these.

Here is one planted with a Boxwood that I'm thinking of showing in the exhibit at the Tx Convention soon. It's odd that it has a hand-drawn signature on the bottom and has a smokey looking finish.

McCoy,
Didn't notice you'd posted another. This one is Yamakou, this is the signature used by the kiln around 30 years ago, give or take. Signature reads "常滑山光作"-"Tokoname Yamakou Made"
Ryan
Http://JapaneseBonsaiPots.net/

Thank you Ryan!!

The hiragana under this signature in my Tokoname catalog reads "Tokoname Sankou Saku"... so what's the difference?

Hey Russell,
As you know, Kanji can have multiple pronunciations, and with a name there's no context, and without hearing the name said there's no way to know the correct pronunciation. If your catalog says "San" instead of "Yama", than "Sankou" it is! I always thought it was Yamakou though, perhaps two different kilns?
Ryan
Http://JapaneseBonsaiPots.net/

Interesting, I did not make the san/zan - yama connection, although I see it now in the kanji. As you already know there is another Yamakou, but it's always stamped and not signed (that I've seen). The chops on my 2 Yamakou pots actually read "Tokoname-yaki Yamakou-zou", that's all in one chop. Next to it in the catalog are 2 chops that go together that read "Tokoname Yamakou-zou". Since the hiragana for Joey's reads "Sankou-saku" I guess that's the difference between these 2 potters' names.

We learn something new every day, don't we?

Thanks!

Russell,
Indeed we do! Since the Kanji is the same And both kilns use "Tokoname" in their marks I just always assumed both were Yamakou!
Ryan
Http://JapaneseBonsaiPots.net/

And I think you can leave the "Saku" off, like the "zou" in Yamakou-zou" it just means "made", so there's another I need to add to my d-base, "Tokoname Sankou".
Thanks Russell!
Ryan

I agree, you never hear anyone say that. I did only because it's there in the hiragana.

Yep, w'ell keep whittling away at it!

Love all the details.. thanks Russell and Ryan!!

JMcCoy wrote:Love all the details.. thanks Russell and Ryan!!

Hey, just 2 white boys trying to fill in the blanks from the wrong side of the world!

At the TX state convention last weekend I found the name behind one of my chops! This is by Mary P. Case (NYC), and is most likely from the 1960's.

Joey. do you have a good picture of the pot? From what I can see in the first picture the glaze looks really nice. Where'd you get it and what did you find out about her?

Hi Russell,
I bought the pot from a long time collector years ago. She has been into Bonsai since at least 1960, but couldn't remember the potter. I found another pot at Convention that had the same mark on the bottom, and inside it had the name in pencil. The quick online search of Mary P. Case led me to Robert Baran's excellent site, where there is a mention in 1965:
http://www.phoenixbonsai.com/Days/DaysNovc.html

Here are some pics of the pot itself. It's a wierd one, but it called to me.

Great kusamono pot, I would have grabbed it too!

Thanks! I just need to find the right thing to plant in it.. until then it's an object d'art on the shelf!

Here are a couple of older Japanese pots I bought last weekend from the same seller as the Case pot above. This one is unglazed with a speckled clay, and I was told she bought it "before 1964 in Japan". As usual, I'm clueless about the mark.





Next one is a handmade-feeling blue-green rectangle, that I was told was bought in Japan in the early 1970's. I really like the groggy feel of the raw clay on this one:

All of those are great. Don't see stuff like that much anymore.

Wow! That blue green one is stunning! I have just the tree for it.

Of the latest green, I'm guessing Ejira Taizan (based on Ryan's chop data-base).
Striking piece, regardless.
Cheers,
Bob