Noritake China – Collectible for Some

I came across a pretty large set of Noritake China that I’ve listed on eBay.  In preparing to list something both to my store website and my eBay store, I often do a little research.  I actually enjoy this since very often the items I’m researching are things I would not have considered exploring on my own.  This was one of those moments.

Noritake China enjoys a pretty long history it turns out.  In trying to get an idea about the set I have, I first tried to find out about the age.  There are numerous sites that proved helpful with this and I also discovered there is an extensive book about identifying the patterns.  I found that the Noritake set that I have uses a mark on the back that dates it to around 1933 at the oldest since it was beginning in that year the company used this particular brand mark on their china.

Tackling the pattern proved to be too much for me since I have only the one set and didn’t want to make it an extensive research project.  I did discover the existence of the book, Noritake China: Identification Made Easy by Robin Powell and would consider that a very good resource to purchase in the event I need this sort of reference more often. Prices of the book vary from around $22-$35 at various online booksellers.

I found that the Noritake company came into existence in 1904 and set out to create the finest of China available.  The location of their operation in the small village of Noritake was chosen because it was convenient to Nagoya.  Nagoya is rich with kaolin, a type of clay that is best suited for the manufacture of fine porcelain.  With the goal of producing the finest of china, being near Nagoya made perfect sense.  By 1911, after making dinnerware for the Japanese Navy, Noritake was selling cups, saucers, plates and bowls at retail establishments throughout Japan.

The value of vintage Noritake china seems to vary widely and i’ve left it to the market to decide the value of the 59 piece set I have to offer by listing it on e-Bay at the very modest starting price of $29.99.  It will be interesting to see the final bid amount in just a few days.