I have a pot and 4 cups and saucers that I would like an opinion on. When I purchased it it was marked as a chocolate pot, but could it be a coffee pot and how do you tell the difference? The pot is about 9 inches tall with the lid, the cup is about 2.75 inches tall.
Also, did Japanese makers mark seconds in some way? The pot underside has an uneven edge to the glaze. (tried to get a photo of it but it is not visible in any of my photos.) There are also flaws in the decorations such as random tiny spots of the gold, or a stray mark. It does show use-related wear as some of the gold on the top of the handle is worn and some of the gold on the center saucer rings are as well, but the marks all appear to be under the glaze. If you look closely at the 3rd photo you can see a faint grayish mark.
The backstamp is Morimura, so that should date it 1911-1921, is that correct? All the backstamps are imperfect. I thought perhaps that would have been their way of designating a second such as other makers scratch their marks or add some 'stray' marks near the backstamp?
It is also hard to tell if the backstamp is under the glaze or not, as the marks feel just slightly rough. So maybe the mark was added later and this is not really Morimura and that is why the backstamps are not intact?
