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Vintage Miniature Hand-Painted Kutani-Style Cup & Saucer — Iron-Red Figural

$22.00 Only one available

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Mid-Century (1940s–1960s) Gilt, Porcelain / Ceramic Very Good
HDRH-VR-0020
Small enough to sit in your palm, and painted like it mattered. This is a miniature Japanese cup and saucer in the Kutani export style — the warm iron-red-and-gold ware collectors call "geisha ware." The saucer measures just 3.5 inches across; a standard demitasse saucer runs 4.5 to 5, so this one is noticeably smaller and all the more charming for it. Robed scholars gather in a garden of pine and bamboo, every figure brushed by hand.
  • Miniature scale — saucer 3.5" in diameter, cup about 2" tall; demitasse-style form, but petite
  • Kutani-style aka-e decoration — iron-red and gold with polychrome enamel in blue, green, and yellow on the robes
  • Genuinely hand-painted — brushwork varies figure to figure, not a printed transfer
  • Eggshell-thin porcelain — light in the hand, with a diagonal red-and-gold hatched band around both rims
  • Mid-20th-century Japanese export, from a Long Island estate later settled in North Carolina
Condition: Intact — no chips, no cracks. Light wear to the gilt rim band consistent with age, and a few minor dark specks in the white ground from manufacture. Very good, ready to display or use.
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Vintage Miniature Hand-Painted Kutani-Style Cup & Saucer — Iron-Red Figural

Mid-20th Century

Kutani-Style Aka-e Porcelain

This miniature cup and saucer came from the estate of a collector who moved south from Long Island, New York, and later settled in Wake Forest, North Carolina. She kept the small, careful things — the pieces that reward a close look. This is one of them: a hand-painted Japanese cup and saucer in the Kutani export style, the warm iron-red-and-gold ware collectors know as "geisha ware." At 3.5 inches across the saucer, it's noticeably smaller than a standard demitasse, and all the more charming for it.

The scene is a garden gathering — robed scholars among pine and bamboo, with rockwork and potted plants, their robes touched with blue, green, and yellow enamel. A red-and-gold hatched band circles both rims. It's genuinely hand-painted, the brushwork shifting slightly from figure to figure, on porcelain thin enough to glow against the light. The piece carries no maker's mark; both undersides are plain white glazed foot rings, so we don't attribute it to any factory. What we can say plainly is what it is: mid-20th-century Japanese export porcelain, painted by hand in the Kutani manner, and small in a way that makes people reach for it twice.

Materials Eggshell-thin hand-painted porcelain; iron-red aka-e enamels with blue, green, and yellow polychrome; gilt accents. Unmarked Japanese export ware.
Care Hand-wash only in lukewarm water with mild soap; dry with a soft cloth. No dishwasher, microwave, or soaking — the gilt and hand-painted enamels are delicate. Handle the eggshell body gently.
From the Research Archives
vintagerose.us Catalog No. HDRH-VR-0020 • July 2026

Specifications

Dimensions
8 × 6 × 6 in
Weight
2 lbs
SKU
HDRH-VR-0020
Pick this up and the first thing you notice is how little it weighs. The porcelain is eggshell-thin — the kind that glows faintly when you hold it to the light — and the whole cup fits in your palm with room to spare. It's a miniature, and it knows it. The saucer measures 3.5 inches across; a standard demitasse saucer runs 4.5 to 5, so this one sits a good inch smaller. Petite, precise, and painted with the same care you'd give a full-size service. The decoration is Kutani export style — the iron-red-and-gold ware often called "geisha ware," though the scene here is quieter than the name suggests. Robed scholars gather in a garden of pine and bamboo, among rockwork and potted plants, their robes touched with polychrome enamel in blue, green, and yellow. A diagonal red-and-gold hatched band runs around both rims, with gilt worked throughout. And it's genuinely hand-painted — look closely and you'll see the brushwork shift from one figure to the next, the small variations no transfer print could fake. This one came to us from an estate — a collector who'd moved down from Long Island, New York, and later settled in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The piece itself carries no maker's mark; both undersides are plain white glazed foot rings, so we don't attribute it to any factory. What we can tell you is what it is: mid-20th-century Japanese export porcelain, hand-painted in the Kutani manner, and small in a way that makes people smile.

Details

  • Form: miniature demitasse-style cup and saucer
  • Saucer: 3.5 inches in diameter
  • Cup: about 2 inches
  • Decoration: Kutani-style aka-e — iron-red and gold with blue, green, and yellow polychrome enamel
  • Scene: robed scholars in a garden of pine, bamboo, rockwork, and potted plants
  • Technique: hand-painted, brushwork varying figure to figure — not a printed transfer
  • Body: eggshell-thin porcelain with a diagonal red-and-gold hatched band at both rims
  • Origin: mid-20th-century Japanese export; unmarked, no backstamp
  • Provenance: Long Island collector's estate, later settled in Wake Forest, North Carolina
Condition: Intact — no chips or cracks. Light wear to the gilt rim band consistent with age, and a few minor dark manufacturing specks in the white ground. Very good, ready to display or use.

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