Brilliant porcelain across the Pacific Ocean – Old Noritake: Beauty Bridging East & West

[Inscription] Van Tine 

[Year of Manufacture] Early 20th Century

Ashley Abraham Van Tine (1821 – 1890), the founder of Van Tine & Co., began business in New York, dealing in products imported from China and Japan. Starting with little capital, Van Tine later expanded his business product lines to include Turkish rugs. As a result, the firm became well-known in New York as a trading firm specializing in that field. In Japan, Van Tine’s branch office was established around 1892 in Nagahori, near Nagoya. As Nagoya was becoming the center of modern ceramic painting, many foreign firms competed with others in a rush to relocate to Nagoya, and Van Tine & Co. was one such firm. This piece is a dish with an overglazed octopus and seaweed design, which Van Tine exported to the United States in the Meiji Era (1868 – 1912).