8th August, 2008: Noritake: The Story behind a Tea Set
The beautiful tea set from Bigelow Tea pictured below was manufactured by a Japanese company known as Noritake, whose table ware and decorative items from the past and the present are prized by collectors today for their beauty and craftsmanship.
Noritake was founded in 1878 by Baron Ichizaemon Morimura in the decade following the opening of Japan’s doors to the rest of the world for trade. He established “Morimura Brothers” in New York for the purpose of importing china and other items. In a bid to ensure that the highest quality Western style tableware was being produced for his import company “he founded a new company called Nippon Toki Gomei Kaisha in the village of Noritake, near Nagoya, on January 1, 1904” and began work on producing what is, to this day, some of the most desirable china in the world. Noritake Co. Ltd. was established in the United States in 1947. ~ See sources below ~ quote taken from Histories of China Manufacturers: refer to sources.
A Modern Day Noritake Tea Set
For viewing: A photo of an artisan at work in the factory circa 1955
For Viewing: A photo of the inside of the Noritake museum — a working factory
Of Interest: International Nippon Collectors’ Club
Source: Noritake Japan
Source: Histories of China Manufacturers
Posted by Ruth at 6:00 am |
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Thanks for this information. It is always interesting to read how things happened or came into being.
Comment by Sheila — August 11, 2008 @ 12:37 am