Folow up to meiji teapot post. United States.
I posted before about a lovely little teapot I had just posting to update I've been digging into the maker and the teapots and I've aquired several of them now. 😁. Unfortunatly what I learned was heavily ai driven I had a hard time finding mutch on the maker alot if what I found was prety repetitive information.
Shogetsuzan rantei was the maker the blanks were either thrown by them or an exclusive partner as the name seals are pressed into the unfired clay blanks they were known for painting pieces from other workshops too. They started out making clay utensils and pottery The tea pots are morriage kyo- satsumaware or kyoto ware in the satsuma inspired style. workshop was founded by a highly regarded Kyoto ceramicist named Takahashi Senzo (本名: 髙橋仙蔵), whose official art/mountain name was Shogetsuzan Rantei. He had alredy passed away before the workshop went hard into exportware. Aparently he had changed his name / signature a few times over his career.
They were made in kyoto for export. They are manufactured between 1885 and 1891. They have no " made in" or other English letter indetifiers. In March 1, 1891 the U.S. McKinley Tariff Act went into affect and export items had to be marked as sutch. Some pieces have aspects seem influenced by by elements that would eventualy become the art nouveau style.
Blanks were molded and made of a highly fired off white stoneware. It was stronger than porcelain but gave the same clean white surface when glazed that was popular in european markets. The surface was also easier to paint.The internal strainer in the spout and tea stains indicates these were made to use not just display. The tops and inner lip have an unglazed finish that keeps the lid from falling off while pouring and prevented the lids from stickingbwhen fired. The bottom is also unglazed. These did not have a nested tea strainer under the lid and relied on the spout strainer. Gold details wore off easily as they were placed on top of the glaze.
All 4 teapots use simmilar construction but the pressed seals under the lids vary slightly. Difrent work benches likely used individual stamps made from wood or clay they were not allways 100% uniform difrent hands also pushed them in harder or softer changing the look. The text on all stamps is identical but the boarders are slightly unique.
The two lotus seed shaped teapots are unusual in that they have mirrored themes one with Asian themed top and art nouveau inspired sides and the other is the inverse. Duality was a common theme at the time and the blending of elements Asian and European can be seen on both. Being two of them it wasnt just a one off aparently it was a theme. Neither of these has the original handle and one of them has a replacement lug and touched up gold but is still a nice piece.
The oval or almond seed shaped teapot has a faded gold signature over the Shogetsuzan rantei seal while the others have no signature. Most pieces produced in workshops were not signed and usualy painted by low ranking artists or apprentices If a higher ranked or master artist in a shop painted a blank however they would sign it. It has the original handle
The yellow one also has the original handle its a variation of the lotus seed shaped teapot with more rounded lobes a bit more like the more traditional gourd shaped teapots. The top and side themes match with each other unlike the 2 others with simmilar shapes.