AusBonsai

Hi Scott and Jow,

I have a few Japanese pots stamped and signed. But none of them are antique. The oldest are less than 30 years old, my father bought them back in the days when they were still imported to Australia.

How do we actually know the pots are indeed antique please?

Thank you and regards.

well technically pots over 100years old are 'antique' but a number of old pots tend to get the term applied to them.

Patina is usually a good give away although some old pots have not been used very much so although they are old they have not developed patina to match their age.

The other way to tell is by knowing the pots and potters. Often signatures and stamps change over time which gives you an idea of a time period in which they were made. Then of course potters stop working or making pots which also can give you an upper time limit.

Hope that helps a bit.

Oh and certain clay types can also date pots. For example there is a red chinese clay that has now been mined out of existance so you know any ot made of it must have come from the period when they were still able to supply that clay.

Koyo is another maker that can be dated from the clay. Koyou pots were made from a black clay but more reciently have been made from a coursely textured cream coloured clay.

Very nice pots! Cant wait to see what they look like with plants insitu.

Hi Jow,

Thank you for the explanations. I like the signature recognition best. I think you have posted an Japanese auction site before where little pots go for several thousand dollars, because they are antique.

I understand that some auction houses such as Sotheby also issue certificate of authenticity that has legal binding. In Japan, if we paid for antique pots, do they also issue such certificate Jow?

Thank you and regards.

The pots in those auctions dont go for high prices just because they are antique. You can pic up pots in Japan with great patina that are only $50. What makes them expensive is who made them, are they a good example of the artists work etc etc.

Much like fine paintings certain artists go for big prices. Tokufuji is probably the most sort after potter in Japan at the moment. A small shohin pot of his can sell for $10,000 plus without any problem depending on if it is a good example.

There are also quite a few tokufuji fake pots floating around and it is often hard to distinguish them from the real article. Often you have to learn the history of previous owners to get a clear idea of its heritage. You dont get a certificate as such but often these high value pots have been recorded in catalogues, previous shows ect so you can trace the pot's bloodline so to speak.

Best is to do your buying through a trusted seller if you are unsure.

For the price range i usually buy in no-one really follows the pots history so you have to look for signs that i mentioned above to age and verify their genuine status. That said in the lower price ranges there isnt any real benifit in forging them as it doesnt add up financially.

Faked patina is easy to spot and occurs on a lot of chinese pots and sometimes on Japanese pots. Peter Tea worte a good article on it on his BLOG.

Like buying any antique, it helps if you know a bit about what your buying.

Hope that helps.

Hi Jow,

Thank you again for the explanation and Mr. Tea's post. I have always thought that antiquity of anything is a very sophisticated field. I am not going to change my mind, I do not think.

I would like to own some antique pots one day. Slowly learning about it is a good start I think.

I will post up the pots that I have, and those that my father gave me one day, when I got over my laziness. They are not antique or anything like that, but they are beautiful too.

Last BSV show at Box Hill, I bought a new Chinese made to Japanese ordered pot brand new for $85 dollars. The gentleman at the stand told me that he imported it himself. He is also into antique pots.

Best regards Jow.

I've had another 3 pots arrive from Japan recently and I thought I post some more pics for everyone.

Here's the first one. I don't have exact measurement as I forgot to get them before leaving for work this morning.

I am told this one is about 40 years old.

THis one is a very large pot that I've got a great trident to go into.

I'm told it is Hattori and the son is still making pots but this was from his father who has passed away. I've included a shot with a mug in it for size reference and also shots of the packaging.

Nice pots,

I love the hattori's patina! Nice pickup! I only have a couple of smaller Hattori pots which have barely any age to them.

One is in THIS post.

Thanks Joe. Here's the last of the lastest deliveries. This one is an antique Japanese pot and has a rougher texture with great patina.

Really nice pots mate, very envious!

And another really nice pot... You have made some really good buys there i think!

Thanks Scott and Joe. Must admit I'm pretty chuffed with them.

Here's one that I'm thinking of getting this drum pot shipped over. It 29cm x 9.5cm and is Japanese Antique and the make is Syu-hai no-in.