Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Otagiri Mercantile Company OMC

The This company was in business from 1954-1994. It was bought out by Enesco in 1994. Registered in NYC and San Francisco. Recognized by its gold diamond shaped sticker  with OMC.

Otagiri imported wares from many Japanese kilns/companies. Most were marked with an OMC sticker. However some were produced especially for Otagiri and have an incised mark or a transfer mark with Otagiri. These appear to have been made around the mid 1970's to mid 1980's. 

Imports from Japanese Kilns/companies include:

Kozangama (Mino)

  

UPDATE:
SEIZAN GAMA 


***There is uncertainty even among Japanese sites as to the reading. 
From comparison of the bone script characters, I am going with Seizan for this and another similar mark.




*These are similar but not exact. Both appear to be Sei in bone script, although on many Japanese sites the mark on the left uses the Ken reading. 

 Gold Imari (Nagoya)


Meito 明陶


Kutani 九谷


Seihogama 正峰窯


Soma Ware

Tetsusaburo Gama 哲三郎窯 (ARITA)

Touhou




Shibata Toki 柴田陶器 










The Handcrafted Otagiri Original sticker/mark file date Dec 5, 1977~

Incised and transfer marks









18 comments:

  1. Thank you so Much! This was very helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am unable to find what I have online anywhere it has gold omc japan sticker on bottom it's 4 piece I know nothing about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Otagiri Imported a lot and many without marks. They would buy in bulk so somewhere out there is a twin. Not everything ever made has made it on line. You might check the made in Japan series by white.

      Delete
  3. thank you for sharing your knowledge. Have a great day.

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  4. Thank you for your kind comment.

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  5. Looking for musical rabbit pushing cart with cabbages song played is "Oh What a Beautiful Morning". The Otagiri black and gold is on it and music still plays beautifully. Trying to locate it. thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This blog is just informational. I am not a dealer.

      Delete
  6. My mark reads
    C in a circle, OTAGIRI Japan and also a design like your 4th to the last picture. It's on a set of cats. I cannot find any info on value. Are they authentic?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m sure they are authentic. The c Inside the circle means copyright, for OMC.
      I don’t do value…but let’s put it this way…it won’t increase your retirement savings by much ;).

      Delete
  7. Thank you for the info. I have a flower pot and saucer with the gold "Handcrafted" label. Is that from 1977? Wasn't sure how to interpret your Dec 5, 1977 notation.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is when the mark/sticker was used or perhaps issued. I can’t remember, I researched this years ago. Mass produced exports are not really my area of expertise….just passed along something I found.

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  8. I do not know the answer. The OMC labels were sometimes a sticker, sometimes impressed or marked on the piece. I do not know if the color indicates the period or not.

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  9. I have some quails with a blue sticker, a marking stamped into the ceramic and no giant hole under. Haven’t been able to find any information on this. Seen anything like this?

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    Replies
    1. It’s hard to say. I can’t really answer individual questions in a blog format. Try joining a Facebook group like “Collecting Japanese Ceramics and Arts”

      Delete
  10. Wonderful post, and it seemingly confirms something I long suspected: that Otagiri was actually one of those very Japanese companies, a trading company (basically a middleman) not a manufacturer. May I ask the source of your conclusion?

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    Replies
    1. Given that the different marks from different styles of Japanese ceramics on the wares sold with the OMC label it is obvious that OMC was an agent in distributing Japanese ceramics outside Japan.

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  11. Very curious to know if you or any of your followers know at what point in time Otagiri marked its mugs (C) Otagiri Japan, stamped into the bottom outer rim of the mugs. I have a photo, but don't know how to post it!

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    Replies
    1. Unfortunately blogs are not very interactive. There is no way for followers to post. My gut feeling is that the stamp you describe was probably made in the last quarter of the 20thC. You can try a Facebook group like “Collecting Japanese Ceramics and Arts”, which is interactive.

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