Antique Nippon Hand Painted Porcelain Plate – Blue Swallow & Gilt Pattern

A circular porcelain plate decorated with hand-painted blue swallows in flight within gilt scroll cartouches. The border features raised gilt floral and foliate decoration on a white ground. Three swallows are evenly spaced around the border, each set within a shaped gilt reserve. A gilt line runs along the outer rim and inner border. The reverse bears a green printed ‘Hand Painted Nippon’ mark with an ‘M’ in wreath, consistent with Japanese export porcelain produced between 1891 and 1921.

Pattern: Blue Swallow & Gilt Scroll Pattern
Manufacturer: Unknown – Hand Painted Nippon, Japan
Period: Early 20th century, circa 1891-1921
Dimensions: diameter – 7.5 inches or 19 cm

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The date range of 1891-1921 is based on the ‘Nippon’ mark itself. The United States McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 required all imported goods to be marked with their country of origin. Japan used ?Nippon? (the Japanese word for Japan) on exports from 1891 onwards. In 1921, the US customs authorities ruled that  ‘Nippon’ was not an acceptable English-language country of origin mark, and required ‘Japan’ to be used instead. So any piece marked ‘Nippon’ was produced and exported between those two dates.
The specific ‘M in Wreath’ mark is associated with the Morimura Brothers trading company, who were a major importer of Japanese porcelain into the United States during this period.