Who made this pot? Start here. This index covers the Japanese and American potters whose work passes through Bonsai Den. Each entry shows how to recognize the maker's marks, the name variants you'll see online, and links to pots for sale now and pots we've sold, kept as a reference library.
How to read a chop
A pot can carry three different marks, and they tell you different things. A kiln chop is a stamp identifying the workshop. A potter's chop identifies the individual maker, and on family kilns it's what separates one generation from another. A nail signature is written by hand into the wet clay, usually on hand-formed pieces rather than production work. Many good pots carry two of these, which is what sellers mean by "double chop" or "chop and nail signed."
Placement matters too. A centered, deliberate chop generally marks a pot the maker was proud of; a crooked or rushed stamp often points to production work. 
Seal characters read top to bottom, then right to left, so the same two characters can come out as two different names depending on which way you read them. Our full guide walks through it: Reading the chop →
The makers
Yamaaki
Tokoname family kiln known for unglazed pots, bold worm-eaten (mushikui) textures, carved rims and heavy feet. Several generations of the Kataoka family have worked under the Yamaaki name, so look for the individual potter's chop alongside the kiln chop to tell them apart.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Gyouzan
Nakano family kiln producing both glazed and unglazed rectangles with flat or inverted rims, cloud feet and decorative bottom borders. Pots may be by the elder Nakano or his son Yuuji, and the signature is how you tell them apart. Also romanized Gyozan.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Suzuki Suzan
Unglazed pots with hand-placed rivets, carved windows, incised corners and smooth, heavy clay. Also romanized Syuzan, Shuzan and Syouzan. These are the same potter, not separate kilns.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Horie Biko
Small glazed pots, most recognizable by the raised crane medallion on the side, in reds, yellows, whites, ruri blue and mokka orange. Usually chop marked, with the finer pieces also nail signed.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Bigei
Tokoname potter known for hand-burnished vermilion clay and hand-carved detail, including dragon motifs. Unglazed, typically chop and nail signed.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Fukushige Bushuan
Heavy drip glazes that run, pool and crackle, reproducing wood-fired kiln effects in an electric kiln. Mostly mame and shohin scale in Oribe greens, ruri blues and multi-color finishes, often with glazed bottoms and pronged or cloud feet. Chop marked; hand-formed pieces are nail signed as well.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Reiho (Seizan kiln)
Art name of Kataoka Katsushi, fourth-generation potter of Seizan Toen, a Tokoname workshop founded in 1889. Classic shapes executed boldly, with crisp lines and deliberate corners: rectangles, ovals, rounds, drums and shallow bowls. Best known for clean, even glazes in pale blue, robin's-egg oribe and cream shiro, with strong unglazed work too, especially drums. Often catalogued as Seizan Reiho, naming the kiln and the potter together. Also romanized Reihou and Reihoh.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Sara Rayner
American potter working in both glazed and unglazed clay, from shohin rounds to large ovals. Her pots are nail signed rather than chop marked, and USA-made.
Full profile · Available now · From the library
Common confusions
- Syouzan, Syuzan, Shuzan and Suzan are all romanizations of the same potter, Suzuki Suzan.
- Yamaaki generations: the kiln chop stays the same across generations. The potter's own chop tells you whose hands made it.
- Gyouzan father vs. son: both worked under the Gyouzan name. Check the signature before assuming which Nakano made the pot.
- Reiho vs. Yamafusa: the shapes and glazes are close enough that the two are confused regularly. The signature on the base settles it.
- Reiho vs. Mitsue Kataoka: Reiho's wife also works out of the Seizan kiln. A Seizan pot isn't automatically a Reiho, so check the potter's mark.
- Two Kataoka kilns: Yamaaki and Reiho's Seizan are separate Tokoname kilns, both run by families named Kataoka. Don't assume a connection from the surname alone.
- Same characters, different names: reading a seal left to right instead of right to left can turn one potter's name into another's.
Can't identify your chop?
Send us a clear, straight-on photo of the mark and a photo of the whole pot through our contact page. We'll tell you what we can, and interesting marks may end up in this index.