Nippon Mark

Q: I have a tea set that I inherited from my grandmother when she died in 1942. Can you tell me who made it and how old it is?

A: This mark showing the sun rising behind Mt. Fujiyama was used by a Japanese manufacturer, probably between 1891 and 1921. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1891 required that all china imported to the U.S. be marked with the country of origin. Nippon is the Japanese name for Japan. After 1921 Nippon was sometimes used as part of a company name, but the country of origin was written as Japan. There is very little information about Japanese manufacturers, but one matching service lists Fujiyama as the manufacturer’s name.

For more information on Nippon, see Collector’s Encyclopedia of Nippon Porcelain by Joan F. Van Patten (Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky, 2002).

Nippon is the Japanese name for Japan.