I didnt take pics of everything. its a full set but it is damaged 😭 its extremley fragile. the cups are so thin.

"Made in Japan" designates it was made between 1921 and 1947. Prior to 1921 "Nippon" was the mark and 1947 to the early 50's, the mark was "Made in Occupied Japan"....post WW2 time. Your Lusterware pieces really don't have any intrinsic value, but it would be fun to collect the entire set. Try etsy.com and search for "made in Japan, tea seat"

I would’t have guessed its that old! how neat! thank you so much!

Idea:

😍

The back stamp ',made in japan"w as also used after 1952. And from the pattern and style I would guess it was made more recently than pre WW II.

The stamp Occupied Japan was use during the years aftyer the was when we occupied Jaman, beginning in 1945 and ending in 1952.

I have a bit of Japanese china as I used to like to pick up various pieces at flea markets.

Your set is not a particularly "fine" piece objectively - meaning no disrespect as the design is not particularly intricate and doesn't appear to have been done by a skilled artisan but executed as quickly as possible in order to sell cheaply for export.

There are some lovely examples of hand painted Japanese china that were intended for export and not as super high end but this isn't one of them. The paint job is relatively crude and doesn't have any fine details.

If this is a small size it was intended as a toy for a little girl and probably sold at the equivalent of a Woolworths for not very much money.

Since you indicate that it is damaged there is even less value to it so any value is for you as a sentimental object - either someone you loved owned it or it was given to you as a child. I have some childhood tchotchkes that make me feel good when I look at them and I also kept a few tchochkes that belonged to my grandmother and mother because I remember how they looked in their homes. My grandmother and mother were more into the "Meissen" style of European tchotchkes rather than the Japanese but in terms of economic value it is the same.

My mother also had some Rose Medallion style stuff and one can trace the age and "value" based on how the paint work declined as the stuff became more mass produced. However even the relatively high quality Rose Medallion isn't worth too much at this point because it simply isn't what people want or are looking for.

lindac92, the stamps are trade dates; which collectors respect and you can't alter.

What do you mean by trade dates? And how do you alter a stamp under the glaze on a bit of china or pottery?

The Japanese export marks can be confusing specifically because the Made In Japan was used in the 1950's after "Made in Occupied Japan" was no longer accurate because it was no longer occupied.

So "Made In Japan" was used for two time periods - one from the early 1920's after Nippon was no longer used and then again after 1952.

Base on the style of this piece it was most probably made in the 1950's because it resembles the lower quality export stuff which the Japanese economy was recovered and "made in Japan" was a cultural joke - which of course then became the joke on the US when made in Japanese stuff like cars indicated a higher quality than the stuff that Detroit was churning out - but that is a digression.

I have never heard "trade date" used to indicate a mark although marks - even if not specifically used for items that are intended for export - or import into the US - are used to date all kinds of stuff because they changed over time. Some of my Japanese pottery which was from the 1950's has a paper label and sometimes no label because the paper label came off at some point.