Oriental Vases (satsuma style?) help please :)

[madpupjackfrost]

Hi there, I am very new to antiques and took a liking to these vases at an auction.  I have spent a long time looking and researching online but I could use some confirmation that I'm on the right line if somebody may be so kind! They seem to be in a Japanese Satsuma style, they have the cracked glaze, but the overlay on top is quite crude in places.  It isnt clear in the photo but  they are a dark blue color, and the other one not in the photo is identical.  The signature on the bottom is hand written but I couldnt even distinguish in what language it was written if anybody has a better eye for this? My best estimate would be that they are tourist reproductions, but any more elaboration would be fantastic. 
Thanks in advance for taking time out to have a look, all the best Lucy xxx

[mart]

Tracking down something like this is almost impossible because there were many made !!  Best thing I can recommend is to try to match the style rather than the individual !! Kyoto style satsuma used a lot of the dark blue if I remember right !! You might google how to match the marks !! Marks are usually done in two ways,, like yours that is the artists name I think,, or by a chop mark which is a persons individual seal and may or may not have anything to do with his personal name !! A chop mark is that square thing with figures you see on bottom sometime !! They don`t use them as much now as they used to !! When my husband was in Japan/Korea during his military days, they were common and everyone of any importance used them to sign documents !!  Each chop mark is individual to one person and is not duplicated !!

[sapphire]

madpup, I just came across this forum in a search for your mark. You should post there and see what kind of answers you get.........then let us know 

http://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php

[mart]

They are beautiful vases !! Back in the late 60`s and 70`s many of the taller vases were turned into lamps !!

[frogpatch]

My gut feeling on these is that they are at least above average pieces. It has to do with the apparent wear on the bottom and the fact that there is a definite front and back to the design. I would try to find an expert expert somewhere to look at them.

[mart]

I saw several very similar on ebay when I was looking around !! But it had no information on them !!

[wendy177]

In my opinion it appears to be Satsuma  type ware,  Satsuma is a type of earthenware made in Japan as early as the seventeenth century. The earliest wares were enameled with simple flowers. By the late eighteenth century a floral brocade (nishikide design) was frequently used. Gold & silver enamels were used as accents by the nineteenth century. Human forms such as Samurai warriors & geisha girls were used to appeal to western tastes by the twentieth century.  In the mid twentieth century, a tremendous amount of Satsuma - type ware was produced for export to the US. Much is poor quality with rather crude paintings.  your piece seems to fall in a little above average category. Here is an example of very fine Satsuma  ware look closely and you will see the difference in detail - Scroll down these sold for $1, 895.00  http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item53e8b92ea7&item=360386735783&nma=true&pt=Asian_Antiques&rt=nc&si=jitU2oodg7VsYWTF3GfJljNmQIY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

[madpupjackfrost]

Oh wow thanks everybody for the imput! You are all so kind and its very much appreciated. Its given me a lot more confidence that my research was in the right direction. I will try the forum that sapphire posted to see if anybody can distinguish the marks and let you all know! Now the next big descision is wether to keep them for myself or sell them on! They seem just to pretty to let go of. I will make a terrible antiques dealer hee hee!
Thanks again and I will keep you all posted xxx

[mart]

I agree with Wendy`s timeline for your vases !!  Thats the bonus of not being a dealer,, you can keep what you want !!