Decorative Plate, OMC / Otagiri, Noire Oriental Cherry Blossoms, Vintage

• Pattern:  Unknown - Noire Cherry Blossoms
• Made in Japan
• Vintage: 1970's - 1980's
• Description:  This is a gorgeous black Japanese plate with pink cherry blossoms and leaves all bordered in gold.  We are convinced this is a decorative plate (not intended for food use), we only found a floral vase with this same pattern, so perhaps it was sold as part of a decorative collection of plates, trinket dishes and vases, as many of these Japanese pieces were. It looks good with the cherry blossom branch hanging down and also going up, we photographed it both ways.  The background is a deep black, this  style of "Ceramique Noire" (Black Ceramic) became popular in the 1970's and 1980's, we have dated this piece as such.  While it doesn't have the OMC or Otagiri name, we have confirmed it is from OMC.  This is not only a rare find, but it in very good vintage condition.  
• Material:  Ceramic
• Dimensions:  10.0  inches in Diameter and 1.5 inches Tall
• Condition:  Vintage - Used.  Very Good Vintage Condition.   There are no cracks, chips or scratches except for normal wear and use.  Otagiri items were hand painted, looks like the gold rim was not painted with a steady hand.  This was a hard item to photograph because of all the glare, please let us know if you need additional pictures.  Please review all pictures and make sure you love this item before purchasing, we can't accept returns.  Please remember these are VINTAGE and ANTIQUE items, they are NOT new, every effort has been made to show any scratches, wear and tear and imperfections.   

Otagiri Mercantile Company (OMC) was an importer and distributor based on San Francisco, CA from 1954-1994, they also a location in New York.  Otagiri imported ceramics, porcelain, stoneware, and giftware from many Japanese companies. The products were made in Japan and were imported for distribution and sold to high end department stores and gift shops. However, by the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's Otagiri had some items specially produced just for them and those items have an incised mark (transfer mark) with "Otagiri".  Not all OMC wares are marked.  Some have the gold OMC label or Otagiri written in gold.  They were bought by Enesco in 1994.