Bottom Feeder Emporium

Noritake Not Japanese Junk

Noritake Co., Ltd. is only part of the diverse and historical porcelain industry. The history of porcelain or china (the terms are interchangeable) truly encompasses several different countries starting with China. Europeans fell in love with expensive porcelain wares from China and attempted to master it for themselves. Japanese were initially taught by the Koreans, who learned their porcelain trade from China. Eventually, the Noritake artisan learned other techniques from the Europeans.

Japan has been producing porcelain products for centuries. However, this fine china was not introduced to The United States until after Commodore Perry’s epic journey to Japan in the 1850’s when a trade agreement between the two countries were established. Sadly the trading ceases during World War II and much of Japanese porcelain ware sold up to this time period in the United States were destroyed or its backstamps were defaced by scratching or sand papering it away. Therefore, finding a dish set during this time period intact and not defaced can be rewarding. What makes it more challenging is much of the factory’s paperwork was destroyed during the war. As like the factories in the United States the factories in Japan including Noritake were converted to war time effort. However, several dedicated collectors are piecing that puzzle together.

We will focus on a small central area in Japan and their production of dinnerware. Noritake Co., Ltd. is located in Noritake Shinmachi, Nishi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture in Japan. City of Nagoya is the 4th larges and is located in the central part of the island. As with Imari porcelain, the Noritake name is derived from the area where the porcelain is produced.

The Noritake Company name we know today was officially adopted in 1981. Chinaware is only 30% of Noritake’s yearly production. The company has a long history and was founded on January 1st of 1904 by Ichizaemon Morimura. However, history material goes back as far as 1854. The World Fairs and International Trade shows in the early 1900’s influenced many of Noritake’s designs.

Noritake had the reputation in the United States as being Japanese junk. I am happy to say, that is not the case today. It is highly collectable. There are several sources you can use to identify a piece or pattern including time period a piece was manufactured. If you are interested, these sources also have more history. Please see “Additional Reference” section for details

Identify a Noritake’s backstamps might feel overwhelming and some sources indicate there could be hundreds. A NIPPON backstamps could be Noritake (NIPPON is the Japanese name for Japan). That is why online sellers with collectable porcelain products should always include a picture of the mark. If they don’t, ask for one. It is one way to help validate the piece. Again, some of the references below have a section pertaining to Noritake backstamps and they are not inclusive.

Today, Noritake’s former factory grounds were converted into the Noritake Garden (Noritake no Mori) where there is a museum exhibiting exceptional old Noritake pieces, such as vases, jars and dishes from the early 1900s. Visitors can see demonstrations of the porcelain process and, if they wish, try it themselves. Search for Noritake Gardens in Google and you will be awarded with additional information. Just a quick note: next door is the Toyota Factory Tour and Museum.

There are as many reasons why we collect or purchase porcelain. Some people inherit the dish set from a relation and they want to add additional pieces. Or they always wanted to have good quality china set for those special occasions. As with most collectors, I love certain time periods and mine is the Art Deco period. I own several Noritake figurines and love every one of them. I have to admit though I have learned more about history from researching my treasures, than I ever learned in school.

Additional References:

1). NORITAKE Collectibles A to Z; A Pictorial Record & Guild To values by David Spain. Book contains backstamps, history of Noritake and great pictures of porcelain products including figurines, vases, plates and unique dinnerware pieces.

2) Early Noritake; Identification & Values by Aimee Neff Alden. Book contains backstamps and patterns information pertaining to dish sets from 4 different time periods – 1) 1895 – 1916, 2) 1917 to 1929, 3) 1930 – 1939 and 4) 1940-1955. Appendix B contains an article on Historical Background of Chinaware in the United States.

3) Collecting Noritake A to Z; Art Deco & More by David Spain. This book is definitely for Art Deco puff. It also contains backstamps.

4) Replacements, an online china replacements outlet can be used to identify a pattern not just for Noritake but for other chinaware and dish set manufactures. Search for replacements china.