I would say they’re Japanese and modern? Maybe 1980s? 

I doubt there’d be a distinguishable artist as such, they were made on a production line?

The mark on the back could just be a factory mark.

As regards thrift stores. I don’t know what it’s like elsewhere, but charity shops in the UK employ people and train them to spot good stuff. They spend all day out back checking items online. Very little ‘good stuff’ makes it to the shelves. These days, you are perhaps more likely to find something wonderful being sold by an inexperienced dealer than you are to find it in a thrift store?

Nic

They are Japanese 'Kutani' not Satsuma. They are not very good quality but they have some characteristics of the older 1940 style kutani, but they are also quite different than the usual vintage/Antique Kutani plates one see's. 

I suspect as Nic Dan does that these are indeed modern, also the backmark ( i did search a little) is one that i have come across before, and different variations lead to a different decade or century but this particular one is if i recall a modern  backmark such as 1980's. However I cannot find it on my ( links) so lets leave this as tentative. 

Hey guys.

Thanks for the information. I did come across the term 'Kutani' later on today when I was poking around on the internet, which helped me narrow my search. I found a few old eBay auctions on Worthpoint with the same design. The ones with dates in the description claimed 1920's, but who knows with that sort of thing. They were not going for big money, about $5-10 each, but considering I paid $1 per plate I have nothing to complain about. I am always interested in learning about any backmark regardless of what it says, and considering that these are all hand painted I'd like to think that an artist created them, even if it was just some poor woman working in a factory.

As far as thrift stores in the United States go, I'm not too sure that the staff has any sort of formal training. The employees are paid minimum wage and don't seem to know much. There is one chain where I find legitimate antiques on the regular, but they are so busy that their stock changes daily. I'm not set out to find a 300 year old piece of porcelain or anything, I have just been casually collecting the stuff since I was a teenager, and I enjoy learning whatever I can about it along the way. Plus if I can manage to make $70 off of a $12 investment, then all the better 🙂

Thank you again. I really do appreciate your input.

Posted by: MelissaNolet

Hey guys.

Thanks for the information. I did come across the term 'Kutani' later on today when I was poking around on the internet, which helped me narrow my search. I found a few old eBay auctions on Worthpoint with the same design. The ones with dates in the description claimed 1920's, but who knows with that sort of thing. They were not going for big money, about $5-10 each, but considering I paid $1 per plate I have nothing to complain about. I am always interested in learning about any backmark regardless of what it says, and considering that these are all hand painted I'd like to think that an artist created them, even if it was just some poor woman working in a factory.

As far as thrift stores in the United States go, I'm not too sure that the staff has any sort of formal training. The employees are paid minimum wage and don't seem to know much. There is one chain where I find legitimate antiques on the regular, but they are so busy that their stock changes daily. I'm not set out to find a 300 year old piece of porcelain or anything, I have just been casually collecting the stuff since I was a teenager, and I enjoy learning whatever I can about it along the way. Plus if I can manage to make $70 off of a $12 investment, then all the better 🙂

Thank you again. I really do appreciate your input.

Hi Melissa

They are hand painted, and of course very good value for money, and they do as I said have very strong characteristics of the Kutani made in 1930's -  1940's ..very much that Koyoto style which earlier Kutani has in more subtle tones. They are Showa period rather than Taisho period and that is Tentative. You may be right and find they are 1920's, however I am sure I have seen that backmark and it was a late 20th century mark, it  also similar to early 20th backmarks, and your plates do certainly have all the characteristics of the early Kutani and in strong elements of Satsuma Koyoto but that would put them in the 1930-1940.

Hi M,

You have an eye for this and I am not going to disagree with your judgment, the more i study them the older they appear so I am leaning with you on this Melissa, you found a good deal. I am not used to seeing the style of Kutani you have found in that exact form, in fact it is usually on the satsuma plates you see that style.Y ou being USA and me being Europe. It maybe that different styles found their way to USA. 

However, they are not that good of quality, and they really would need to be Old vintage to have that intrinsic value. 

Take the items below...These are antique and good quality Kutani and yet they struggle to sell at £10. You might make a small profit on the plates, and no question good quality Meiji era Satsuma plates sell for huge money, but  your plates are Kutani and not Satuma but are in the satsuma style but are Kutani 🙂 They confuse me a little, but i can say they are not very high quality so it doesn't matter what they are trying to be unless they are some origional form of Kutani, which is impossible so they are just low grade kutani. 

?

I found this plate in my ebay shopping basket today. I must have placed a bid either deliberately or by mistake on it last week, and forgotten all about it. Now i have to pay for it. Maybe in 10 years it will be worth a lot. 

I was watching this today and hoping to get it...

....but it went too high and sold at £71  too high for me, and it had a very large crack on the inside but a very good artist. So i was not sure what to think when I discovered I had this Kutani plate. It is a decent size,  8.5 inches which is good for Kutani as they can be so small. I paid what you paid Melissa for your 9 plates. £9 but i have to pay for postage £4.50. 

However this plate is much better quality than your plate's but you have a better chance of making a profit if you can sell each one for $3 each.

Update: I accidentally stumbled upon some exciting information while I was researching a different piece. The plates (unless they are replicas) are apparently "kyoto satsuma"  from the Meji period, but I have found matching pieces labled as both "kyoto satsuma" moriage and kutani moriage. So yeah, it IS confusing lol? But I learn more and more every day, and appreciate any and all insight and knowledge shared in my direction. I will be back with more pieces, I DO have hundreds of them

By the way, I love your accidental Kutani plate, and that it reminded you of me ? That's great. I'm sure we will be talking again about some other piece soon enough.

Here are a couple links to pieces that match my plates

https://www.rubylane.com/item/1959055-PBY28/Kyoto-Satsuma-Style-Moriage-Footed-Bowl

http://litaxulingkelley.blogspot.com/2014/06/meiji-period-japanese-kyoto-satsuma-moriage.html?m=1

Excellent work Melissa. 

They do have Kyoto styles you see in 1920-1930 Satsuma vase, such as this. 

The do not have in my opinion the raised Moriage effect which does date back to earlier Meiji period. I disagree with Ruby Lane and Kelley that you can call this a 'raised Moriage' when it is exactly the same pattern you find on 'Kyoto satsuma vase' and those vases are certainly not considered raised moriage. 

The satsuma Moriage is more like this..........

.his

I think the Kyoto design places them after 1920+ and neither of the examples are of exceptional quality. However I do agree that you got a good bargain as they are at least possibly Antique or soon might be, and certainly are Vintage, however the Geisha in both yours and the examples just have a mid century feel to them and very hastily painted.

An excellent Vintage find and might soon be an Antique and are somewhat rare in a sense and in excellent condition but not of good quality. A collector might like them as they are unusual.