Is this the exception to prover the rule?

The moment I picked up this cup I thought that it was not very old.

I noted the poor quality of workmanship, especially prominent on the pattern round the rim, where there were white spaces where no white spaces should ever be.

And there was no country of origin in the Latin alphabet, which would imply that the cup was exported from China before 1891.

Gotheborg claims that, "It is said, that the only rule that is really certain when it comes to Chinese reign marks, is that most of them are NOT from the period they say."

So please, would somebody who knows about these things, confirm or otherwise that this cup is the one (no doubt among many) that proves the Gotheborg premise.

 

looks Japanese to me

 

Agree with Blooey. Japan China - older - was known for poorly transferred patterns. I have had a lot of it and enjoy the many imperfections.

 

Interesting. I've always thought of the Japanese as being meticulous. So did they also go in for breaching the American export marking requirements? Is this possibly a true 'before 1891' cup? @blooey @patd8643

 

I agree with the others, Japanese. That shade of blue and the sheen of the glaze are very Japanese.
Unfortunately it is missing its saucer, which it would have had, being a Western style teacup.

No, it isn't. Second half of the 20th century at most. The mark is off centre, btw, which is usually seen on recent production.
I don't know if the US still requires the country of origin to be marked. If so, this could have come to the US through another country (migrants?).

 

@Any Jewelry I note what you say, thanks. For the record, this one made its way to France.

 

Do you mean it never went to the US? In that case there didn't need to be a country indication, although some manufacturers did that anyway.

 

I thought that Europe was off the mark with requiring 'country of origin' marks in the latter 1880s, mainly because of fear from German ceramic exports. I haven't managed find out the geographical spread or whether it just applied to Europe.

 

A lot of it was made around WWII period and was country of origin unmarked. Who was going to buy Made in Japan then? Japan was desperate for $$$s then. We had a lot of military in Japan who bought it locally and brought it home.

 

@patd8643 @Any Jewelry It's a minefield. Thankfully we have a couple of expert mine disposal specialists amongst the group. Thank you, the both of you.