Vintage Japanese Maple Leaf Porcelain Oval Platter, c. 1950–1980
Viridian Eclection
The Piece
A Japanese oval porcelain platter, white bodied and thinly potted, painted with maple in autumn. The leaves are momiji, the small sharply lobed Japanese maple, and they are laid across the rim in loose drifts of vermilion and rust, some turned fully red, others caught half green at the base, a few reduced to outline in gilt. They do not sit as a repeating border. They fall the way leaves fall, heavier at two corners of the oval and thinning to almost nothing across the centre, so the eye is carried around the piece rather than stopped by it.
The rim itself is finished with a narrow scalloped band in black and gold, drawn as a fine ogee that follows the wave of the edge. Inside that the glaze is left entirely bare. Better than two thirds of the surface carries no decoration at all, and the whole design depends on that emptiness.
The reverse is clean and lightly glazed with a low foot ring. At the centre sits the mark: a red iron oxide seal, square with a soft rounded outline, carrying a single character painted over it in gold.
History & Provenance
Momiji is one of the fixed subjects of Japanese decorative art and it carries a season the way cherry blossom carries spring. Maple viewing, momijigari, is an autumn practice with a literary history running back to the Heian court, and the leaf has been used on lacquer, textiles, prints and porcelain for as long as those trades have existed. A piece decorated with maple is not decorated at random. It is a piece for one part of the year, and in a household that changed its tableware with the season it would have come out in October and gone away again.
The painting here is hand done rather than transferred. The enamel stands slightly proud where it has been laid thickly at the leaf centres, the gilt outlines wander in the way a brush wanders and a print does not, and no two leaves repeat. That is the useful distinction in this material, because the great bulk of Japanese export porcelain from the twentieth century is printed and only finished by hand.
The mark is a seal rather than a factory backstamp, and the single gilt character over red is the form a decorator or a small workshop used rather than the form a large export pottery used. It names no firm that can be identified with confidence here, so the piece is offered as hand painted and sealed rather than under an attribution it cannot carry.
Product Details
| Era | c. 1950–1980. Dated on the making rather than a backstamp: a thinly potted white porcelain body with hand painted overglaze enamel and gilt, finished with a painted rim band, and marked only with a decorator's red seal and gilt character rather than a factory or country of origin stamp. No dated mark is present |
| Origin | Japanese |
| Decoration | Momiji, Japanese maple leaves, in vermilion, rust and gilt across the rim, with a black and gold scalloped edge band |
| Material | White porcelain with overglaze enamel and gilding |
| Marks | Red seal to the underside with a single character painted over in gold |
| Dimensions | Approximately 14 in. by 10 in. |
| Condition | Excellent. No chips, cracks, crazing or restoration found. Glaze clean and bright throughout, enamels strong with no flaking, gilding complete with only the faintest rubbing at the extreme edge. Reverse clean and the seal crisp |
Why It Belongs in Your Home
This is a platter that works hardest when it is doing nothing. Stood on a plate rail or leaned at the back of a dresser it reads as a painting of autumn, and the bare white centre keeps it from crowding whatever sits in front of it. Bring it down in October for a roast or a plate of fruit and it does the other job just as well. Red and gold on white is a combination that sits against walnut, brass and plain plaster without needing anything else in the room to agree with it.
Every piece is packed with professional-grade materials: multiple foam layers, double-boxing, directional and fragile handling labels. For large furniture we use custom timber crating. We photograph packing before dispatch and can provide images on request.
White-glove delivery is complimentary within 100 miles of Reno, NV. National shipping quotes provided at checkout. All shipments are photographed and documented. Damage claims must be filed with the carrier; we provide all documentation needed to support your claim.
Local pickup is available at Viridian HQ (Reno, NV) with 2–4 days notice. Contact us to arrange. Private viewings also available.
All antique and vintage items are sold as described and all sales are final. Each listing includes detailed condition notes and photographs so you can make a fully informed decision. We encourage buyers to ask questions — about condition, dimensions, finish, provenance — before purchasing.
Antiques are irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind. Carrier handling is outside our control once a piece has left our facility, and major carriers including FedEx do not insure antiques. We do everything within our power to ensure safe transit, but cannot accept liability for carrier damage. If damage occurs in transit, we will provide full documentation to support your carrier claim.
Have a question? — we're happy to provide additional photos, condition detail, or discuss the piece directly.
