Antiques Roadshow... Metafilter edition!

December 30, 2014 8:39 PM

Calling all art history sleuths and Japanese signature decipherers! I was raised with my mom telling me this antique Japanese Moriage Satsuma vase was the most expensive thing in the house. She brought it home from Japan in 1957. Now I'm curious if my mom was right or wrong... (Of course I want my mom to be right, but... she wasn't always.) I see a lot of satsuma stuff online, and the values are so varied from $80 to thousands that I don't know if this piece is actually special.

Yes, I am planning to take it for an appraisal at some point, but if I can get any clues beforehand that would be awesome. I know how resourceful and smart you guys are. :)

The vase is almost two feet high, I'd say (don't have it in front of me, it's at a restoration shop for cleaning and to properly fix a fractured handle... the money I'm investing in it is part of why I'm trying to figure out if it's valuable or just a pretty knickknack).

Below are some detail shots of the base art and signature.

Front
Back
Side (they're both similar)
Hand painted signature

Thoughts? THANKS AS ALWAYS!!! :D xoxox.

posted by miss lynnster to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

As for the writing, it says "右 十五" (right 15), which apparently is just to indicate where it is to be placed among a row of a vases... so, not a signature :\
posted by caaaaaam at 11:28 PM on December 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

According to this article, valuable Moriage ware is not usually signed and a lack of signature implies nothing.
posted by Kerasia at 11:53 PM on December 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Huh. That's interesting about the writing. I wouldn't have guessed that one! Hmmm.
posted by miss lynnster at 12:16 AM on December 31, 2014

Response by poster: @Kerasia - That was a really helpful link! Thank you!!! :)
posted by miss lynnster at 12:19 AM on December 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

Try reddit's /r/whatsthisworth
or /r/Antiques/.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:55 PM on January 4, 2015