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Help me ID this Japanese Studio Pottery Vase?

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Rockin and Rollin....
This place never amazes me what people can ID and know about.

I'm going to try to REALLY stump the masses. I'm hoping that we either have some people that know pottery, and or people from Japan that may be able to help.

Here's all I can tell you about this vase. The glaze is full on the inside, and only partial as you see on the outside. I have no idea what this style of glaze is called. nor the style of the vase shape.

The only marking on this is a "Tan" stamp (pronounced Taun or as in.. aaaaahh) although it looks to be somewhat stylized. I know it means Bold-Daring. I do know in Chinese it means bottle... go figure..

I've included a picture that has the character in it. It's the second character down in case you can't see the stamp well in the actual photograph.

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THe more I look and search around, the more I'm thinking it's a Oribe kiln vase? As in made in the Oribe green glaze and type kiln..

Really hoping someone can help me get closer to ID'ing this... or at least a studio, or even a time frame.. I'm thinking 60's to 70's?

I believe this was brought back from Japan by a military member.
 
Thank you. I didn't know about him, but I was kind of hoping Suzuki might stumble on this thread too and at least know of somewhere I could inquire.

I've spent hours and hours researching this, and havent' found anything close.

I brought it in to work today and had someone here that reads Japanese ID the mark on it for me. It hasn't put me much closer other than to confirm I was right in thinking Japanese.
 
If you don't know "noborigama" is a type of Japanese kiln. I asked him about it awhile back. Suzuki would probably be of help too.

btw... very nice looking piece.
 
Thank you. I didn't know that was a style kiln either. I've been learning a lot in trying to ID this...

I picked this up at an estate sale a couple months ago. I didn't look at it really close then, but the price was good, and I liked the style and colors and thought it would go really nice in the living room...

Spartanmanor was over one night and I showed it to him since I knew he has an art degree.

He pointed out the glaze and the reds around the greens, ,and that's when I realized I had something that was a little higher quality than I first knew... SO, then starts the hunt trying to figure out what I have, maybe how old it is, and maybe get an idea if it's just of regular value, or if it may be something worthy of a little higher price...

I sent Noborigama a PM to see if he might be able to help me out.

I appreciate you helping me onepixle... This sure hasn't been an easy one to figure out. I've yet to find anything even close to the shape and forum.. glazes similar, but not the same,...
 
I just realized the "tan" you mentioned earlier is actually "han." It's the stamp of the maker. Let us know what you find out.

Good luck!
 
Huh.. it's actually Han? When I was looking on the web with the guy that I'd' the mark, he said it was pronounced Tan... and I know he grew up in Japan and speaks Japanese.. but he could be getting rusty...
 
I have an old Tiffany (style?) lampshade that my parents had for 50 years or so that they never used. I put it on a lamp that doesn't do it justice, so Wifey and I decided to change it. We were out looking for something else in Home Depot last weekend and stopped to look at the lamps. We spotted one that was $9.95 that was a Taiwanese knockoff of an old brass and marble base. We liked the looks, but the quality was so bad, we passed. The top was even bent, which was a manufacturing flaw.

After we got home, I thought I'd check Craig's List to see if there was anything that would work. I went to San Francisco, and typed in "antique lamp". About 3/4 of the way down the page, I found an ad for two "antique" lamps. I clicked, read the descriptions, then took a closer look. One of the two lamps, the seller said, had been bought in an antique store several years prior for $250.00. I looked closer, and sure enough it was identical to the one we had just seen in HD, bent top and all. That's the problem these days - you just don't know.

Let's hope that mark isn't Taiwanese for "Let's f%@k an American!":D
 
LOL... yeah, it's amazing what people try and get away with...

I know in this case, that isn't so... The glaze on this is something that isn't going to be done on a mass scale. I'm not thinking it's anything really special, but you can easily tell it's a studio piece done by an artist. I've seen lesser quality pieces at higher end art shows..

Even if it's a cheaper item (which I know it isn't) I'm not gonna get hurt on what I paid for it as a really nice decoration.
 
Asked the old girl about the nuances in translating this one:

大胆dai-tan 不fu 敵teki

dai-tan= 'bold' fu teki= 'no enemy'. Literal translation: You're so brave, your not afraid of anything.
Gutsy stuff. Can't help with the ID.
 
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I chatted online with Robert Yellin, a Japanese pottery expert living in Japan. He runs an online Japanese pottery store, and is very knowledgeable. He confirmed my thoughts that it is a Japanese Seto Oribe vase. I sent him the picture of the marking on the bottom, and he said it would take him an hour or so to figure out the maker and that he would charge a fee, I don't know how much. But he also offered this website for you to post your information on, to see if you can get it ID' there first. Did it come with a wooden storage box? Usually those are marked as well and are very helpful in IDing the maker. Here is the website-
http://www.asianart.com/phpforum/subforum.php?sfid=4 Good Luck!
 
Wow.. thank you VERY MUCH... That's a lot more info than I've come up with.

I can post on the other site, but I would be willing to pay a fee if it would get me at least an area, and or time line or hopefully even the artist so long as it's nothing real crazy. I'm not a lot of money into this, and I don't think it's worth a whole lot, but I'd just love to know the story behind the piece.

It didn't come with a box. It was at an estate sale, and was just sitting on the mantel for sale. I saw it across the room, and was pretty much the only thing that really stood out to me saying wow.. that's nice.. so I talked them down in price a little and bought it.

I have been on Robert's site quite a bit reading it over the last few weeks, and had thought about sending him an e-mail asking for help, but he seemed to be more a seller than an appraiser... Granted, a general value would be nice, but that's not really what I'm after. I'm more into the art and the story, than the thought of selling it... This is one I'll be keeping.. .
 
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As far as I know it is 'han' Florence lived and taught in Japan for a number of years and that is how she pronounces it. We have several original Japanese paintings and she pointed out the atist's mark, or han, to me.
 
Sorry, I don't have the Japanese language pack installed on my computer, so I can't see what you're trying to show me.

The picture I posted with the characters, the one stamped on the bottom of the vase is the second one down in what I posted. The ones on the vase are a little more stylized than what I found to use as an example.
 
Whatever/whoever it is... I think it has a very unusual shape for a Japanese vase, to me at least. Almost looks like it has some 30s art deco influence. It also kinda reminds me of a Greek amphora.
 
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I was trying to find the written characters 大胆不敵 in the stamp on the bottom of the vase. Were those chacters written on a separate sheet?
 
The second char. is what is stamped on the vase, not the whole string. Sorry for the confusion on that, I just didn't take the time to crop it like I should have.

I agree completely Onepixle... It took me a long time to decide it was Japanese, but I had thought Korean quite a few times just because it's something you wouldn't expect to see from Japan. I had thought the lower part was very amphoric shaped but the mouth ruined that, and then the way the handles are placed makes them nothing but decoration, or the metaphor for something, or an interpretation.....

Anyway, I never did say, but size wise, it's 11" tall, and the mouth is 4 3/4" wide, so it's a decent size. It would make a great Sake bottle for a big drinker.... and that makes me think someone was putting a twist on a traditional Sake bottle.. out instead of in on the top and twice the size.....
 
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