I started out 25 years ago collecting different types of Porcelain and China. At that time it seemed so easy to "know it all", but as time goes on and the market widened with the advent of the intranet I found there was so much I was missing. So to help me and anyone else along the way I am putting up different ways to sort out antiques an collectibles, commonly and sometimes not so commonly found.
Nippon Back Stamps
Nippon Back Stamps
The vast majority of Nippon wares produced during the Nippon era were manufactured by the company that would later become the modern day Noritake Company. There are a total of 359 back stamps known to date. Joan Van Patten has collected a vast number of Nippon back stamps in her book entitled Van Patten's ABC's of Collecting Nippon Porcelain, published in 2005.
The most common Back Stamps are:
M-in-wreath
M-in-wreath, hand-painted ("M" stands for importer, Morimura Bros.); found in green, blue, magenta & gold. Mark used since 1911.
Maple Leaf
Maple leaf Nippon; found in green, blue & magenta. Mark dates back to 1891.
Rising Sun
Rising Sun Nippon. Quite common, but not used as much as the M-in-wreath & Maple Leaf. Mark used since 1911.
Many of the lesser known back stamps were used by companies whose histories are unknown. While these lesser companies produced fine wares on occasion, it is generally felt that the best examples of Nippon-era hand painted porcelain will carry a back stamp used by the Noritake Company during the Nippon era. The exception to this is Coralene which to the best of our knowledge was never produced by the Noritake Company. [A word of caution: the offshore (mainly China) companies producing "fake Nippon" have perfected the M-in-wreath back stamp. You can no longer tell if it's a fake by looking at the back stamp
More information can be found at http://nipponcollectorsclub.com/backstamps.php
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