Vintage Teacups from Japan.

Hey everybody, I'm Kimberly of Happy Girls Vintage. Thank you for being there today, and thank you for watching this video. Today's video is going to be about vintage teacups again, but specifically we're going to be talking about teacups that were created in Japan during the era of the 1930s through the 1950s. And this particular type of vintage teacup is one of my very favorite types of teacups, and so I think this is going to be a lot of fun. Now I have several vintage teacups in front of me right now, and many of them were created in Japan, and they're vintage, and we're going to talk about what makes a vintage teacup from Japan different from teacups from other parts of the world, what makes them special and unique, and me personally, what makes them fun and really collectible. I love teacups from Japan, so this video is a lot of fun for me. To begin with, one thing you should know about vintage teacups from Japan during that time frame, the 30s through the 50s, is that often there is no maker's mark on the bottom. You know, I've talked about this in other videos here on the Happy Girls Vintage channel about how some vintage teacups just don't have a maker, but a lot of them do. On the bottom of the teacup they will have a maker and the country of origin and other information, right? Whether it's a limited edition teacup or that type of thing will be on the bottom of the teacup. However, a lot of vintage teacups from Japan will have no information whatsoever on the bottom, so it may just be completely blank, or it also may only have a stamp that says made in Japan, or maybe some type of hand stamp or hand initials. But often it's going to be up to you as the collector to know whether or not the teacup was made in Japan just by looking at the teacup and seeing the signs of what a Japanese vintage teacup looks like. So let's talk about some of those unique features that might be in a vintage Japanese teacup that say would not be as present or maybe in a different style than it would be on say an English teacup or teacup from Germany. If we take a look at a teacup right here in front of me, we can talk about some of some of the features that are unique to vintage Japanese teacups. So let's say you are someone who has decided that you want to collect vintage teacups that are from Japan, and you are out in a thrift store or an antique shop, and you're looking around, and you find a vintage teacup, and how would you know if it's from Japan or not if there's nothing on the bottom to indicate to you that it was made in Japan? Well, some things that I have noticed about vintage teacups from Japan, which actually makes me really love them a lot, is that they tend to be very bold. So colorful, bright, shiny, shimmery, big bold designs, big flowers, you know, a little bit over the top, which actually makes me just love them even more. Often there's nothing understated about a vintage teacup from Japan from this era that we're talking about. So here's one right here, and you can see a little bit what I'm talking about, right? We've got these sweet pea pink flowers that are just taking up the entire front of the cup, right? And on both sides and inside and all over the saucer. And the other thing about this vintage teacup from Japan, it has, it has the title on the bottom. It says it's April Sweet Peas, but other than that, all that's on the bottom is a sticker, which at this, this is a made in Japan sticker, and it has the maker. However, a lot of these types of teacups who maybe originally had a sticker, by the time you find it in an antique store or a thrift shop, the sticker is long gone. This is very unusual to still have a sticker. So most teacups similar to this, you wouldn't necessarily know that it was made in Japan by anything on the bottom, because often the sticker would be gone. Also, this particular finish on the paint of this teacup is called lusterware, and it's this sort of iridescent, kind of like the inside of an abalone shell, or sort of a pearly, pearly look. It's white, but as you turn it in the light, it shimmers and glows with other colors. Greens and pinks and things show up within the white. And this is a finish that vintage tea, tea, vintage teacup makers from Japan used a lot. They loved it. And this teacup definitely is a lusterware teacup. But I have other ones here that, again, are using that, that lusterware finish. And that can be a good indicator that a teacup was made in Japan, if you see other elements as well that make you think it would be definitely a Japanese teacup. Another thing that I've noticed on vintage teacups from Japan of this era is really ornate handles, okay? So there's a lot going on with the handles, but it's not just a simple handle that curves around like, like something from a teacup, say like this one from Germany. This is a vintage teacup from Germany of the same era, right? We're just, there's no comparison here. They're very different, right? And even if you get into a vintage teacup from, say, England, like this one, there's still quite a bit of a difference there. And often the Japanese vintage teacups, the entire handle would be covered in the gold rather than accenting in lines of gold the way they might do on a vintage teacup from another country, okay? So again, this sort of over-the-top stylization on the teacup is uniquely vintage Japanese. Also, many vintage Japanese teacups from that time period are going to be footed, okay? So again, this like fancy bottom foot that the teacup sits on, often it could get quite ornate, right? Lots of color going on, fluting, you know. Again, just making the teacup all that more fancy, right? Just over the top with the fancy stuff going on here, and which I think is awesome. You will also find in the vintage Japanese teacups that the use of gold was pretty extreme compared to other vintage teacups from other countries at the same time in history. And instead of just sort of accenting areas in gold, right, like this where they just kind of hand painted a little tiny lip of gold, little detailing of gold on the handle around the edge. This is another vintage teacup from England. You know, they might do a little bit of gold detailing on the very edge of the saucer, more subdued generally. Not always, you know. There's a little bit of extra gold on this one from England, but usually the gold on the Japanese teacups is just way beyond what you'll see on an English vintage teacup of the same time frame. They tend to sort of do this sort of airbrushing of the gold. If you can see, they're actually spraying the gold along the edge so that it's really, really visible, right? It's a big part of the design, the gold. And even on the saucer, instead of just a fine line of gold, you've got a lot of gold coming down, right? Almost a quarter inch of gold is showing up on the edge of the saucer. Another thing that you will notice on vintage Japanese teacups is that on the flower teacups, the flowers are really big and bold, really bright, and there's lots of pink and just bright, bright colors. And when they hand paint them, the same thing happens. So you'll find, so this is a demitasse from Japan, and it was hand painted. And you'll find that the hand painting that was done in Japan in that time is often very well done. It's beautiful, almost to the point where you won't even know that it's hand painting unless you sort of run your finger over it very lightly, and you can actually feel that it is raised paint on the surface of the porcelain. And this is a pretty subdued example. I wish I had one right now in my shop that I could show you that is more what I'm talking about, where they just just cover the teacup in this beautiful, colorful hand painting. And I don't have one right now to show you, but hopefully as I'm editing this video, I can kind of look back through some of the teacups I sold from my sold gallery online, and find one for you, and kind of put it up in a corner or something so you can see what I'm talking about, because they're amazing. And whenever I find one, I always buy it right away so that I can have it in my shop, and then it always sells right away also, because they're just wonderful. Another design element that is in the vintage teacups from Japan, that I have rarely seen any other country do in their vintage teacups, is the reticulated saucers. And this is where they actually cut a pattern in the porcelain, you can see through it, so that you have this sort of lace-like idea going on. Now there were some other companies making porcelain lace-like products around the same time, however it wasn't teacups, it was little figurines, little like fancy women, like victorian looking women in pretty dresses with delicate, delicate porcelain lace, that now if you find the figurines, usually it's Dresden figurines, usually if you find one the lace is always broken, because it was so delicate that it just couldn't make it through all these years without somebody dropping it or banging it against something. But if you find one of those and it's in perfect shape, wow, you got something. Hang on to that. I did have one in my shop and I stole it to a very happy collector. But anyway, the reticulated saucers are a very good sign, a good indicator I should say, that you have a Japanese vintage teacup. And I think that they are very fun as well. I mean it's again, it's the sort of over-the-top ornamentation, right? Fancy, fancy. And that's what, that's what makes them fun I think. Another thing that you might notice for teacups from Japan around this time is that they will be usually often just a little bit bigger than other teacups of that same sort of era. Now this one is a slightly smaller teacup. This is a hand painted teacup from Bavaria, Germany. And it's really, really pretty with the little lilac flowers. But you know, you could kind of really tell the difference here in sizes. As far as like, the Japanese teacups generally tend to be, you know, a good half an inch wider across the top. The saucers will tend to be half an inch to even an inch wider across in diameter than teacups that are created from other places during that time. This vintage teacup right here from Japan is a good example of what I mean. Now in this particular teacup, the maker was really trying hard, I think, to capture the look of say an English teacup. So you know, they, they made their handle a little simpler. It's still more ornate than most English teacups from this time period, but it's a little simpler. They've cut down on the gold, right? They've lessened the the amount of gold. They are no longer spraying the gold along the edge. They did a line, right? Again, they're trying to be more like an English teacup. However, they did this sort of stamping of gold all the way around, which you just don't find in English vintage teacups. Here's another one from Japan. It's just stamped all the way around. Lots and lots of gold still, right? It's like they're trying, but they just can't get away from that gold. And you know, they're, they're going for the, the more, the rose, the single rose kind of styling like you would maybe find in more of an English kind of teacup. However, it still has that sort of Japanese feeling, right? The colors are just a little bright, a little over the top, right? It's sort of like tealy sort of blues rather than a more subtle mossy green that you might find in an English teacup. And again, it's just a little oversized, right? It's a little bit just, teacup's bigger, right? But here, this is a little more subtle, right? Because they are trying to have a more English look, I think. They're trying to tap into that market. However, it still is very obviously from Japan. Now, one last thing that you can find in vintage teacups from Japan from that time period is the Moriage finish. And I don't have one in my shop right now that I can just show you and hold in my hands to show you right now, but I will find one and I will put it in the corner of the video when I edit. And what it is, is a process where they actually took porcelain in a liquid form, almost as if you were icing a cake. Have you ever had like put icing in a piping bag and you, you know, you're just squeezing out thin layers of icing to like write someone's name or something on the cake for their birthday or something? I used to do that a lot for my kids when they were younger, right? So, happy birthday Sam. It's along those same type of lines, is that someone, an artist, was actually squeezing out like a liquid porcelain on the surface of the porcelain teacup, and then making elaborate designs. Often they would do something like a dragon. And so I will, like I said, I'll put up a little a picture so I can tell you what I'm talking about if you're not familiar with it. And that is a dead giveaway that the teacup was made in Japan. If you see a teacup like that, a lot of times they are like a bright blue or a bright green. They're, they're really beautiful. And I've never seen that technique on teacups from anywhere else in the world. It doesn't mean necessarily that they don't exist out there somewhere, but in my many years of purchasing and collecting and reselling vintage teacups, I've only seen that process done on Japanese vintage teacups. I want to thank you all for watching today. I hope you enjoyed this, and if you have any questions about vintage teacups, Japanese vintage teacups, vintage porcelain, anything really that has to do with vintage and antique items, you can go ahead and write me a little note down in the, in the comment section of the video, and I will try to answer as best I can. All right everybody, well I'm going to sign off for now, but I want to thank you again for watching, and if you like this video, please do click the like button, and subscribe if you want to watch more videos like this one. And also check out the description below this video. There are links to all my Etsy shops, and specifically my Happy Gals Vintage Shop, with all the vintage items, especially vintage teacups, and my other Etsy shops as well, with lots of handmade items, art items, stuff that I personally have made myself, and just poured my heart and soul into, and they're one-of-a-kind, really awesome gifts, or just something special to treat yourself. So thanks again, and I hope you all have a wonderful day.