Vintage Set of Hand Painted Porcelain Salt Cellars | Geishas By Mt. Fuji popular | Master Bowl and 5 Salt Dips | 1920s Tame & Nakamura Made in Japan

This is a vintage set of five salt cellars and their master bowl, decorated with a beautiful scene of Geishas at the lakeside! Made during the early 1920s in Japan, by Tame & Nakamura (T&N), this set of oblong salts was made from a fine porcelain, and entirely hand painted! In the large master salt bowl a group of three beautiful Geishas are pictured, relaxing by the lakeside on a breezy day. One is sitting on a bench, seemingly watching the whitecaps form on the water, with a patch of chrysanthemums blooming nearby. The background is full of different trees, lining the lakeshore off into the distance, with a couple small buildings and a waterfall peeking from the side. Far off, the sails of boats are visible, as is a migrating flock of birds, all under the watchful eye of Mt Fuji. Gold gilding provides the finer details in the Geisha's clothing, and gives a little shine to the scattered moriage pebbles that both decorate the landscape, and rim the bowl. The individual salt cellars have a condensed design of a single Geisha sitting by the lakeside, but are still highly detailed with many trees, birds, and even tiny moriage dots! They all have been painted with the same dusty blues and greens of the countryside, with the ladies dressed in red, turquoise and gold. Both the cellars and their master bowl have small holes excised from the porcelain on the sides, forming small "handles".

Condition: This set is in very good condition! None of the little salts have chips, cracks, or any other damage that I could find. The master bowl does have a chip to the back rim. It is not severe, nor is it really visible from the front, and has not lead to any cracking. I didn't find any other issues of note with the master bowl. Both the master and the cellars have a bit of wear to their gold gilt on the rims, but they remain in fairly good shape. These were well loved but cared for! Please be sure to check all pictures, I always include one of any issues I might find - let us be certain this set meets your standards! I wanted to point out that this set is entirely hand painted. This is not a set of transfer Geisha ware that was hastily decorated with a few colors, this set has a lot of skillful work put into it! Because of the nature of the hand painting, each one differs slightly in detail, but they all clearly match, and are equally well done. As was often the case with tableware sets, only the master bowl is marked. It has the wreath and cherry blossom stamp of Tame & Nakamura, reading "T&N Japan Hand Painted". This particular mark was used between 1921, when Japan was put into use in place of Nippon, and 1925, when the company slightly altered their stamp.

Size: The master bowl is about 7” long, 4¾” wide, and sits 1½” off the table. The cellars are about 3¾” long, 2¼” wide, and sit ½” tall.

Why I Chose This: These salts are so gorgeously painted! There is so much detail in each of them. I love the traditional scene of the lakeside under Mt Fuji. It's been found in tapestries, pottery and paintings for centuries! These are a refreshing departure from the red-transferred Geisha ware I usually find. While the transfer ware does have a lot of charm, I believe these ladies are a step above in beauty. I also love how each one of the little salts is so individual! It looks like more than one artist worked on this set, and it's really fun to take some time to look at the differences. I don't normally see these Japanese export sets with anything other than huge florals or Noritake styled sunset scenes, so I'd call this one very unusual. These lovely ladies popular deserve a chance to grace a table again. I hope you have room on yours!

Vintage items are sold As Is. I try to include as many relevant pictures as possible. If you're interested in more, let me know, I'm more than happy to help. Although I do not accept returns for these one of a kind finds, please let me know if you run into an issue, and we'll find a solution! I ship through the USPS, which provides both tracking and insurance. Contact me if you're interested in buying internationally.

Thank you for taking an interest in this item! It was a pleasure to find it.