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Neat that they have lithophanes.
These were likely ‘new’ when your mother acquired them. They typically date to the 1950s or 1960s as export ware from generic Japanese workshops at a time when Japan’s post-war economy was being rebuilt.
Obviously there was no western market for goods like these during the war and, afterwards, pieces were required to be marked as coming from “Occupied Japan” until 1949. After that, the word “Occupied” could optionally be dropped, but wasn’t fully dispensed with until occupation ended in 1952. That would be for export to the US but similar requirements applied elsewhere, and there was a tendency for most pieces to be marked according to US requirements since that was the largest post-war market.
As generic ware with no maker mark, they’re not terribly valuable I’m afraid, except that you have a large set and the value then lies largely in the number of pieces. A teacup and saucer might fetch up to around $10 for example and a teapot up to double that, so it soon mounts up for larger sets, but there’s no real additional premium for the set.
To give you a very, very rough idea about
top-end prices, here’s a set of 13 being offered for £810 (pounds sterling) = $974 (US dollars) but bear in mind that 1) This is a retail dealer’s selling price and 2) The pieces have a rather more attractive, elaborate and desirable pattern.
Delicate vintage Satsuma Dragon tea set Moriage Lithophane Geisha - Service for 4 eggshell fine porcelain, each cup has a Geisha girl lithophane on the bottom. The lids are decorated with Dragon Knobs. Hand painted in brown with white dots - so called moriage, gold, rust-orange, blue, green...
www.pamono.co.uk
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