can anyone tell me anything about these vases?

I have a set of two of these vases, on the underneath is written 'foreign' and I know nothing about them, they're probably worth nothing, I've tried finding them on Google or on ebay but can't find anything.

Any help would be great, thanks

vase by stacie posted May 21, 2018 at 5:44 PM

vase by stacie posted May 21, 2018 at 5:44 PM

 

Welcome to the forum, stacie.
I don't know much about ceramics, those who do will be along later. They will want to see photos of the base as well.
The 'foreign' mark was generally used on German items after the first world war. Germany wasn't too popular at the time, the name Germany wouldn't sell, so 'foreign' was used instead.

 

Thank you so much for your reply, that information is very useful.

 

Pleasure, stacie. The others will be able to tell you more.

 

Welcome to our forum!!!

This design was very popular & is referred to as the "courting couple". The finish looks to be what is referred to as "lustre". My SWAG would be made in Japan.

 

Thank you so much, I have searched up the 'courting couple' and have came across a company called Limoges and they have the exact same couple picture used on their vases but I can't seem to find the set of two, I believe these vases were made by Limoges, your information is super helpful, thank you.

 

Pieces marked "foreign" are most commonly Japanese, sometimes German, and after WWII. It was a time when naming those until-very-recently-enemies was considered detrimental to retail.

I think it's found on items imported into the UK.

 

Limoges is a place in France, not a company, stacie.

 

As Susan said above, Limoges is a city in France. To be truly labeled as Limoges it has to have been made at the very least in the area surrounding the city if not in the city itself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoges_porcelain

Also true Limoges porcelain is very finely done & often is hand painted. I will bet this is a transfer design with possibly some hand painted accents.

While it was used by companies in & around Limoges it was a very popular design from the 40's into the 60's. All manner of companies used this type of "courting couple" design & there are a multitude of different ones out there. Check out the number of listings & the different categories listed right now on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...couples+.TRS0&_nkw=courting+couples+&_sacat=0

 

Here in Europe, 'foreign' was already marked on items after WW I. You see that a lot on 1920s items here in the Netherlands.
I used to have a couple of German 1920s beaded handbags marked 'foreign'. They would have been considered very old-fashioned after WW II.

 

The term foreign was used for German articles here after WW1 for a while. Then after WW2 for both German and Japanese stuff, although mostly and more commonly Japanese. The rebuilding of Germany was considered important enough that German became rapidly acceptable as a mark.