LES THÈMES
19th Century Hand Painted Satsuma Tea Cups & Saucers — Set of Six
A rare and wonderfully preserved set of six Japanese Satsuma tea cups with their matching saucers, dating to the late Meiji period, circa 1890–1910. Richly pictorial in character, each piece is individually hand-painted with an idyllic Japanese landscape populated by figures in traditional dress, flowering trees, temple architecture and distant Mount Fuji. The palette is particularly beautiful: soft celadon and grey-blue, faded rose, earthy red and ivory, illuminated throughout with delicate hand-applied gilding.
The cups are especially charming. Each is finished with an extravagant gilt dragon-form handle, while tiny figures painted within the well of the cup create a delightful hidden detail revealed only as the tea is finished. The saucers continue the landscape narrative, transforming the complete service into a series of miniature paintings. A distinctive brown-and-gold interlaced border encircles the rims, unifying the service and lending a graphic richness characteristic of finely decorated Satsuma wares of the period. The decoration, palette and elaborate gilt treatment show the influence of the celebrated Meiji-period Satsuma tradition associated with workshops such as Kitamura Yaichirō, although the individual marks have not been conclusively attributed.
More than a century of age has given the ivory glaze a beautiful, finely crackled surface. Subtle traces of time have settled into the crazing, lending the pieces the soft patina and depth that cannot be replicated in later ceramics. Rather than diminishing the decoration, this gentle ageing gives the service an almost parchment-like quality against which the muted pigments and old gold appear particularly luminous. Remarkably, all six cups retain their corresponding saucers, making the survival of the group together especially appealing. The set remains in excellent antique condition, with the gentle patina, craquelure and minor variations inherent to hand-painted ceramics of this age. A wonderfully decorative survivor of late nineteenth-century Japan — at once functional porcelain, miniature landscape painting and a collector’s object.
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Product Details
Material: Gilt Satsuma Earthenware
Antique Condition: Very Good with Patina Typical of Age
Origin & Era: Japan, Late 19th-Century, Meiji Period
Hallmark: Individually marked to the underside
Dimensions & Weight:
◦ Cup: 9.5cm Ø x 4.8cm H, 11.2cm W with handle, 150 grams
◦ Saucer: 14.5cm Ø x 2.5cm H, 160 grams
Total Weight: 1.86 kg
Curated as part of Les Thèmes ‘Nacre Interlude’ collection, August 2026.
LES THÈMES
19th Century Hand Painted Satsuma Tea Cups & Saucers — Set of Six
A rare and wonderfully preserved set of six Japanese Satsuma tea cups with their matching saucers, dating to the late Meiji period, circa 1890–1910. Richly pictorial in character, each piece is individually hand-painted with an idyllic Japanese landscape populated by figures in traditional dress, flowering trees, temple architecture and distant Mount Fuji. The palette is particularly beautiful: soft celadon and grey-blue, faded rose, earthy red and ivory, illuminated throughout with delicate hand-applied gilding.
The cups are especially charming. Each is finished with an extravagant gilt dragon-form handle, while tiny figures painted within the well of the cup create a delightful hidden detail revealed only as the tea is finished. The saucers continue the landscape narrative, transforming the complete service into a series of miniature paintings. A distinctive brown-and-gold interlaced border encircles the rims, unifying the service and lending a graphic richness characteristic of finely decorated Satsuma wares of the period. The decoration, palette and elaborate gilt treatment show the influence of the celebrated Meiji-period Satsuma tradition associated with workshops such as Kitamura Yaichirō, although the individual marks have not been conclusively attributed.
More than a century of age has given the ivory glaze a beautiful, finely crackled surface. Subtle traces of time have settled into the crazing, lending the pieces the soft patina and depth that cannot be replicated in later ceramics. Rather than diminishing the decoration, this gentle ageing gives the service an almost parchment-like quality against which the muted pigments and old gold appear particularly luminous. Remarkably, all six cups retain their corresponding saucers, making the survival of the group together especially appealing. The set remains in excellent antique condition, with the gentle patina, craquelure and minor variations inherent to hand-painted ceramics of this age. A wonderfully decorative survivor of late nineteenth-century Japan — at once functional porcelain, miniature landscape painting and a collector’s object.
—
Product Details
Material: Gilt Satsuma Earthenware
Antique Condition: Very Good with Patina Typical of Age
Origin & Era: Japan, Late 19th-Century, Meiji Period
Hallmark: Individually marked to the underside
Dimensions & Weight:
◦ Cup: 9.5cm Ø x 4.8cm H, 11.2cm W with handle, 150 grams
◦ Saucer: 14.5cm Ø x 2.5cm H, 160 grams
Total Weight: 1.86 kg
Curated as part of Les Thèmes ‘Nacre Interlude’ collection, August 2026.
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