Featured Chinese rabbits

Picked these two up today. They're about 12cm long. The bases and siggies make me think they have some age. Turn of the century maybe?

 

Very nice rabbits. Neither have the dynasty or emperor names, and the only characters they have in similar (and the only two I recognized) are the last two (bottom left ones) saying Nian Zhi (Year Made).

Still, I found your marks, and unfortunately, they aren't as old as you are expecting:


This one says Yi Qian Tang Long Nian Zhi. Long would be the year of the dragon, and as the below screenshot suggests this is from the 1980s, that would correlate to (mostly) 1988.

(https://gotheborg.com/marks/20thcenturychina.shtml)


This one says Yang Cheng Wu Chen Nian Zhi. The Wu Chen is part of the Chinese cyclical calendar, which rotates every 60 years. And from the same link as above, this would also be from 1988.

 

Ouch. Okay thanks for the info.

 

You'd find these rabbits, and cats IIRC, at stores like the Bombay Company (now defunct) back in the 80s. I find them appealing, but as they say, decorative value. However, they may become collectible sometime in the future.

 

Thanks for the optimism but I'm running out of time

 

Okay. Just to play devil's advocate, how do we know the Wu Chen year is 1988 and not 1928?

 

Removing all context, there would be no way to distinguish the Wu Chen of 1928 and the Wu Chen of 1988. While this is dated in the cyclical calendar, they do not say which cycle we are in here (which is typical, at least with my experience with coins dated in this calendar).

With that being said, I am no expert here, so optimistically, it could be 1928. But the fact that you found it with another piece tentatively dated to the 1980s (and more specifically to the same possible year as this one) makes me think 1988 is more realistic.

 

Oh, and in case this is relevant, I did find this Rose Canton bowl with the same marking as your 1928/1988 rabbit:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/19th-chinese-rose-medallion-porcelain-29224859

From what I remember, 1920s pieces would say MADE IN CHINA whereas modern pieces could have a large variety of purely Chinese markings (this one potentially being included). With that being said, like before, I am no expert on rose medallion; however, I imagine more experts exist on that stuff than these rabbits, so maybe this can help in some way.

 

Okay thanks. To be honest I don't think it would make much of a difference in value if it was 1928. Mass production and export had started by then and a drop in quality. I am swayed towards 1988 also.

 

My first thought on seeing them was late 20th century.