Does the signature in the following Kannon statue mean "Made by Kutani Kubikin"?


I bought a Kannon (Guanyin) statue at a flea market. There are Japanese
characters on the underside, which I was able to translate halfway thanks to
Google Translator: "Made by Kutani Kubikin".

Kutani is clear: that's just the style in which the statue is made or painted.

This "Kubikin" (省山謹製) doesn't mean anything to me, and I can't find anything
on the Internet. Perhaps Google image search has also misinterpreted it. I
suspect it corresponds to the name of the manufacturer or the artist, but I
would be grateful for any information as to whether the word is really
"Kubikin" or it's something else.

[![signature
picture](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bsfvj.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Bsfvj.jpg)




[九谷]{kutani}, as you already pointed out, refers to a particular [style of
Japanese porcelain](https://jisho.org/search/%E4%B9%9D%E8%B0%B7).

[謹製]{kinsei} is an adjective that means "humbly manufactured with care", and
it appears to be a word used to cast a positive light on manufactured goods by
the manufacturers offering them for selling.

As for 省山, I am not exactly sure but it seems to be a toponym, possibly the
[province of Shandong in
China](https://www.bing.com/search?q=%E7%9C%81%E5%B1%B1&form=QBLH&sp=-1&lq=0&pq=%E7%9C%81%E5%B1%B1&sc=7-2&qs=n&sk=&cvid=E9D59AC1E7944FA7BF49C42D7D9E03D9&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl=).
According to the [relevant entry in the Japanese
Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E6%9D%B1%E7%9C%81), the
Japanese transliteration for the name of this province is [山]{san} [東]{tou}
[省]{shou}. As for the pronunciation of 省山 itself, I couldn't find a source to
back it, but we could guess it would be read it as [省山]{shouzan} in Japanese.
However, as pointed out in the
[comment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/101783/does-the-
signature-in-the-following-kannon-statue-mean-made-by-kutani-
kubikin/101784?noredirect=1#comment166011_101784) by @Naruto, 省山 might well
refer to the name of the manufacturer. It would be really weird that a style
of porcelain made in a particular place in Japan is produced also in China, so
@naruto's arguments are pretty solid.

Taking everyone's input into account then, we could guess the following
translation for 九谷 省山謹製:

> kutani goods carefully manufactured by 省山.




[九谷]{kutani}, as you already pointed out, refers to a particular [style of
Japanese porcelain](https://jisho.org/search/%E4%B9%9D%E8%B0%B7).

[謹製]{kinsei} is an adjective that means "humbly manufactured with care", and
it appears to be a word used to cast a positive light on manufactured goods by
the manufacturers offering them for selling.

As for 省山, I am not exactly sure but it seems to be a toponym, possibly the
[province of Shandong in
China](https://www.bing.com/search?q=%E7%9C%81%E5%B1%B1&form=QBLH&sp=-1&lq=0&pq=%E7%9C%81%E5%B1%B1&sc=7-2&qs=n&sk=&cvid=E9D59AC1E7944FA7BF49C42D7D9E03D9&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl=).
According to the [relevant entry in the Japanese
Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E6%9D%B1%E7%9C%81), the
Japanese transliteration for the name of this province is [山]{san} [東]{tou}
[省]{shou}. As for the pronunciation of 省山 itself, I couldn't find a source to
back it, but we could guess it would be read it as [省山]{shouzan} in Japanese.
However, as pointed out in the
[comment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/101783/does-the-
signature-in-the-following-kannon-statue-mean-made-by-kutani-
kubikin/101784?noredirect=1#comment166011_101784) by @Naruto, 省山 might well
refer to the name of the manufacturer. It would be really weird that a style
of porcelain made in a particular place in Japan is produced also in China, so
@naruto's arguments are pretty solid.

Taking everyone's input into account then, we could guess the following
translation for 九谷 省山謹製:

> kutani goods carefully manufactured by 省山.

