Nippon China and Porcelain

The McKinley Tariff Act of 1891 required that all merchandise manufactured outside of the United States be marked or labeled with the country of manufacture. From 1891 to 1921 many items that were manufactured in Japan were branded with the word Nippon. However, in 1921 the United States government decided that merchandise coming from Japan had to be marked as such, even though Nippon means the source of the rising and son and it is what the Japanese call their country. Merchandise labeled or branded Nippon from that era however has become increasingly collectible and valuable depending on it design.

Although Japan had a long history of producing porcelain, the porcelain marked Nippon was strictly produced for import into the United States and the west. Because Japan did not have counterfeit or copyright laws and they were trained by westerners from other countries, they were able to produce items that were very close in quality and likeness to many other manufacturers of the time, including Beleek and Limoges. Antique Nippon china and porcelain is usually hand painted and very ornately decorated and designed. While elaborate pieces of Nippon are bringing in top dollar, pieces with less design and a lot of white space are bringing in less money.

People also are being cautious because of the amount of fake and reproduction Nippon china available on the open market. According to reports, the fakes first started appearing in the 1980’s with fake stamps bearing a familiar wreath known to Nippon collectors. The more savvy collectors can tell the difference between the fake and the real stamp, but many people cannot and they purchased the fakes. Other companies started reproducing merchandise using actual molds. Most collectors however can tell the difference by the way the porcelain looks and feels and most of these newer reproductions do not bear the proper stamp or label.

Lefton China - Porcelain Collectibles

George Zolton Lefton was a Hungarian Jew who left his home country for a better life in 1939. Originally, Mr. Lefton was involved in making sportswear, however his passion and hobby had been collecting fine porcelains. In 1941 he opened Lefton China in Chicago, Illinois and in 1945 he signed his first agreement with a Japanese company to import products marked “Made in Occupied Japan.”

The Lefton China Company produced many things over the years including cookie jars, figurines, head vases and teapots that are highly prized by collectors. The quality of the goods that this company has produced over the years has been generally accepted as good. Lefton China continued to import porcelain products from Japan until the mid-1970’s, after which they started importing from Taiwan and Malaysia. In 2005, OMT enterprises purchased the company but Lefton products live on for the collector.

Satsuma Japanese Pottery

Satsuma pottery is usually cream colored earthenware that is high fired and glazed. One of the most unusual characteristics of this type of pottery is that the surface will also have a fine crackle effect. The earliest known pieces are believed to be from the early 1600’s. The name Satsuma is actually the name of the province in Japan where this type of pottery may have originated from.

A recent Satsuma plate that we acquired from my mother featured a beautiful pair of peacocks; however a lot of the Satsuma pieces have gorgeous floral designs. Satsuma pottery was later mass produced and the style copied not only by other areas of Japan, but in England as well. For this reason, prices of Satsuma pottery can vary greatly from ten or fifteen dollars to many thousands of dollars.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archives July 20, 2005 . . . .