Chinese bowl? Marks?

Can anyone tell me what these marks say or mean?

 

Welcome, Lorraine. Please go back to you post, click EDIT and then change your pictures from "thumbnail" to "Full image." Members will be better able to see and comment on your bowl.

 

Hi, Lorraine...and Welcome!

Are there no marks on the bottom of the bowl?

 

I can't quite work out the first character, but the second is 茂. It wants to be a Kangxi bowl, and that is a traditional auspicious bat and peach roundel in the middle, but it is likely later 19th century from what I can see.

 

What I find really interesting, aside from their location, is the 'dotted' nature of both characters, almost like a prison tattoo. The roundel is plainly overglaze, but the 'signature' doesn't show in a way that makes clear when it was applied; it seems to be through the glaze! I have little experience to draw on, but those two characters seem pretty unique, to me.

 

Good observation, wlwhittier, it is a very unusual backmark, I have not seen one like it. Perhaps it was a later addition to the bowl. However I notice there is further chinese symbols on the underside of the bowl almost out of the picure. If we could see these it might tell a different story./

 

Oh...I see what you mean. Perhaps the OP will hear our plea, and illuminate those tantalizing characters in the 1st pic? We can only hope.

 

From what I can recall from seeing similarly marked examples, I believe that the two marks were added later by the owner as a deterrent against theft of his/her property. Presumably. a pointed tool was used to score dots through the glaze - a bit like a hammer and tiny chisel, if you see what I mean.

 

The owner had some good skills I never noticed this until wlwhittier pointed it out. I had assumed it was the reflection from the light that gave it that impression. It is possible the bowl could be from Peoples republic china (Proc era) late 20th and it is why i was curious about the Chinese symbols on the underside.

 

Yes, it looks like an owner's mark. It also helps if you go to a 'bring your own bowl' festivity.

 

C'mon! This ain't American, an' it ain't Tupperware...
I can't wrap my head around theft protection, or potluck cleanup ID, as reasonable assumptions to justify the effort & skill needed to place those 2 characters on the inside of the bowl. There's something in this that escapes easy understanding.

But nor can I offer another probable theory for their form, appearance or placement. Sigh...

 

Maybe @lorraine ramos will come back soon with another photo or two.

 

Please let me know if you need more photos

 

Hi, Lorraine...and thanks!

The pics we were hoping for aren't of the characters inside the bowl, 'tho you did a fine job of them, very sharp & clear.

What we would like to see are the characters barely showing on the outside of the bowl, in the first of your original pics. They may help identify the maker, and/or the kiln that produced the bowl, and perhaps when it was made. Thanks!

 

As wlwhittier as said it is these symbols here..



Also if you could get a picture of the base of the bowl, as that can be very helpful in determining age of bowl.