Why does this porcelain Nippon cup have a hole in the bottom?
Q: I bought this mug/cup (?) at an estate sale. It is marked with an “M” inside a wreath and “Nippon.” The thing that has me stumped is the large hole in the bottom. I cannot find any reference that tells me why this hole might be there. There are no cracks or chips. Any ideas?
D. K., New Hampshire
A: You might say that you can blame that great big hole in the center of this porcelain container — at least to a certain degree – on “Elsie” the cow.
Before we get to the reason that large gaping hole is there, let us talk about who made this piece and when. First, the “M” inside the wreath stands for “Morimura Brothers,” which was established in 1876 by Baron Ichizaemon Morimura IV.
The Morimuras established a trading company with offices in Tokyo and a retail and wholesale office in New York City. At first, the company exported traditional Japanese products such as paper lanterns, curios and porcelain. A visit to a Paris World’s Fair, however, gave Baron Morimura the idea to manufacture Western-style porcelain dinnerware. In 1904 the Nippon Toki Kaisha Ltd was established in a village named Noritake, which was located just outside Nagoya.
The Morimura Brothers used a lot of marks on their wares over the years but the “M” in a wreath is probably the most famous (with the exception of the post-1921 marks that use the English word “Noritake”). It is reported that the famous “M” in wreath mark with the added word “Nippon” was used between 1911 and 1921 — and this dates the piece owned by D. K. rather narrowly.
This leaves us with the question of the day — why is there a big hole in the bottom of this two-handled vessel? And that takes us right to Gail Borden Jr. and “Elsie” the cow. It is true that Gail Borden was dead when Elsie made her debut at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, but rightly or wrongly, Elsie will always be associated with Borden’s products, particularly condensed milk.
Some say that condensed milk can be traced back to the 13th century Tartars, but the first condensed milk we might recognize as such was made in France in 1820 by Nicolas Appert. Then in 1851 several children died from bad milk on a voyage between England and the United States. Gail Borden Jr. was on the ship on which the children died and was devastated.
Once back in the United States, Borden began experimenting with condensing milk so that it would not spoil after only a few hours. He failed miserably until he used a vacuum pan the Shakers employed to condense fruit juice. Eventually, Borden was successful, but it took a long time for the product to be accepted by the public.
It was used during the Civil War by Union troops as a field ration, but it was not until the 20th century that it made a place for itself in the American home. But women did not like putting an ugly can on their table so manufacturers made containers in which the can could be inserted and later removed by poking a finger through the large hole in the bottom and pushing the unsightly tin container out.
It should also be mentioned that similar devices were made to disguise jam jars — no woman in the early 20th century wanted her female neighbors knowing that she bought jam rather than making her own.
Whether it was meant to disguise and hold condensed milk cans or jam jars, the insurance replacement value is $55 to $65.
Write to Joe Rosson, P.O. Box 27419, Knoxville, TN 37927, or email treasures@knology.net. If you’d like your question to be considered for the column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus.
This story was originally published August 2, 2014 at 12:00 AM.