Journal · 手記 · Marks
A mark you can’t place
18 October 2026
On the foot of a small pot by Echizen Bunzan: a square framed kiln mark in cobalt, with two characters brushed below it. It is not among the recorded forms. We set it down anyway.
At a glance
- Maker
- Echizen Bunzan 越前文山
- Region
- Echizen, Fukui
- On this foot
- A square framed kiln mark in cobalt; 文山 brushed below it
- On record
- Two stamped impressions, both reading 越前文山
01 · 記録 What is on record
Two stamped impressions
The reference records his mark as 越前文山, with two stamped impressions; which characters each impression carries cannot be settled from them.
A brushed 文山 is not among them.
02 · 観察 What is in front of us
Stamped, and painted
Here the name is put on the pot two ways at once: a framed kiln mark, and two characters brushed in cobalt. A stamp is pressed into the clay; a brushed mark is painted on. Telling the two apart is a good first step in reading a foot.
03 · 考え方 Why describe it
Described, not left out
We set it down because the pot is in front of us. A mark you cannot place is worth more to you described than left out — as long as it is described only as far as the evidence goes.
Read further
- Echizen Bunzan 越前文山 — maker pageThe recorded impressions and this painted mark
- The pot itself: a painted ovalJournal, 19 October
- Index of marksDocumented marks by maker
Ask us
A pot, a mark, a question?
Send us a photograph and we will tell you what we can see — and what the photograph cannot tell us.