Chinese Porcelain Writing and Markings. Please Help.

Hello Everyone,

As always, Sunday is market day and I always come home with at least a bag full of things. I am beginning to learn about porcelain and how to interpret their marking and trying to spot older pieces from newer and things like this. It is a long road with many things to learn, so at the moment I am buying $1 - $2 items I like with markings so I can practice.

Today I picked up this small vase with Chinese markings on it. I have no idea about how to read Chinese or interpret its makers mark. I have looked through a few websites to try and match it but it proves challenging, which I do not mind. The only thing is, I have no idea if I am looking at the mark upside down or not. Any pointers on how to go about this? Also if any one can read the characters on the side of the vase, that would be awesome. Just looking at it and how it is made, I do not feel there is any great age to it, but for a dollar it was too nice to pass.

Please enjoy these pictures:


As always, thank-you and take care from Australia.

Jason

 

Hi Jason, yes, for a dollar you can't go wrong, and it is a pretty vase.
It is modern, probably 2nd half of the 20th century. The picture is likely to be transfer printed, some parts could have been handpainted over the transfer. If you look at the larger colour areas through a loupe, you can probably see tiny dots. That means it is printed.
There is a great site for Chinese and Japanese marks, this is the page for modern marks:
http://www.gotheborg.com/marks/20thcenturychina.shtml
Hopefully one of our native speakers of Chinese will be along to help you with the text. It is probably a poem or a reference to a story. Or just 'beauty in a garden reading a letter'.

 

Thanks again AJ, that website is a great resource. I had a look under the most powerful magnifying glass I have and I can see brush strokes rather than dots...thought I do not have a loupe yet...so that is still up in the air, it certainly could be a transfer. I found the marking on that website and it places it mid century or there abouts. Here are two links to ebay of similar vases that say 1940's.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1940s-5-...214493?hash=item2ef691521d:g:6FYAAOSwImRYF-ph

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1940s-4-...384472?hash=item2cb5023f98:g:ScAAAOSwo4pYF-wH

What do you guys think?

Anyway, thanks for looking!

Take care,

Jason.

 

Good research, Jason, and as you can see, a good investment. Those vases have the same style and mark. 1940s is possible, 1960s as well, maybe you can find the manufacturer on 'Gotheborg'.

 

The bottom says Qianlong Nian Zhi, and, yes, there are a ton of these marks on the site mentioned.

 

Agree with the above opinions. This has Qianlong Nian Zhi fake markings. Scroll about 1/2 way down the following page to the subsection under: Qianlong Nian Zhi - Qianlong Period Make that has the following info:

"Following marks are in Kaishu (normal script) style. This is the present-day regular script, which has been in existence now for almost 2000 years. As opposed to seal script, which is drawing, this is hand writing. None of the following marks are of the Qianlong period despite that they say so. See comments next to each individual mark for an approximate date."

Look specifically at #260, 335, 1089, 1377, 1073, etc.... They are being dated from the 1940s to 1990s or later. Like the above suggests "See comments next to each individual mark for an approximate date."
http://gotheborg.com/marks/20thcenturychina.shtml

--- Susan

Edit: Janetpjohn beat me!

 

It is made in the 21th century in Jingdezhen. Decal transfer paper is used to make these patterns.