Q. Enclosed is a picture of my Noritake china set. It has six cups, six saucers, six sandwich plates, a cake/cookie plate, a teapot, a sugar bowl and a cream pitcher.
--Pauline Doersam, Schaumburg
A. The industrial giant Noritake Co. Inc. of Japan today sells china and crystal in more than 100 countries. It has been a major supplier of ceramics to the U.S. since the late 19th Century, when its earliest wares were stamped "Nippon" (an Anglicization of the Japanese word for the country we call Japan) with a green wreath encircling an "M" for Morimura Brothers.
Baron Ichizaemon Morimura founded the company in 1876 as Morimura-kumi, and the New York City branch of the firm, Morimura Brothers, was established three years later by the Baron's younger brother, Yutaka.
At first the company bought from independent Japanese factories and concentrated on importing and exporting, but in 1904, it built a porcelain factory in the Japanese village of Noritake. Hence the stamp "Noritake," which began to appear on dinnerware exported to the United States sometime around 1914.
From the moment of its introduction, Noritake dinnerware was a hit: Consumers apparently agreed with a typical advertisement from 1928 that the china was "beautifully white and clear and pleasingly thin." The china, which was first hand-painted and in later years hand "retouched" after the application of decals, was also frequently marketed as "dainty," which is a fair description.
Over the years, the company, which formally changed its name to Noritake in 1981, made hundreds of dinnerware patterns. The fact that many firm records were destroyed during World War II makes it impossible to name every pattern, but your pattern without a name is designated "NP-36" in "The Collector's Encyclopedia of Noritake" by Joan Van Patten (Collector Books, $19.95). That information will help you if you care to look for additional pieces through a replacement service.
The exact date your pattern was produced also is a mystery, but the mark you supplied, of "Noritake" over the green wreathed "M" of Morimura Brothers, with "Made in Japan" underneath, allows me to date it from 1921 to 1941. Altogether, the pieces in your set are worth about $350 to $400.
Q. I have a number of photos taken during World War II. This particular photo is of Capt. Clark Gable and some friends. Does it have any worth?
--Jim Achbach, Stockton, Calif.
A. It has no great monetary worth, but is a nice souvenir of the famed movie actor Clark Gable, who saw active duty in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1942 to 1944. Following the death of his actress wife, Carole Lombard, in 1942, Gable joined the Army Air Force as a private, but then went through Officer Candidate School to attain the ranks of lieutenant, captain and ultimately, major.
While shooting footage for a film about aerial gunnery, Gable saw action in the skies over Europe, and at one point, Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, offered a reward to any German pilot who could shoot down Gable's B-17.
The markings on your photo indicate that this is an official Army photograph. Many such were taken, and many copies distributed. At the time Gable entered the service he was Hollywood's leading man, so Gable's service was seen as asset to the recruitment effort. I estimate the photo's value at $20.