Posted 9 years ago
racer4four
(586 items)
This lovely bowl was pointed out to me by a special CW person who discovers all sorts of treasures in places I would never even visit.
I call her the eBay fairy, sprinkling happiness from the depths of the internet.
It was advertised as Japanese and my interest piqued I was able to buy it at a good price (even the post was OK!).
I asked various groups of helpful and knowledgeable people and although not given an exact identification was given direction.
It appears to be Chinese and quite a recent production. This style of glass is based on ancient Chinese glass that has a jade like appearance due to levels of barium in the mix. Lead-barium glass was the most common in ancient China and the barium produces turbidity which gives opacity. It is sometimes called Peking glass, although that term is also applied to overlaid and cut back glass from China.
The glass is not extremely glossy and the finish is satin in light. I can't see mould lines and the base and rim are hidden because of the cage so I don't how it has been blown and finished.
The mount may be silver although the base plate has what I think is a shine of brass through it. A helpful person tried to interpret the signature but the only character they could decipher was silver, so I am not sure whether parts of the mount are silver or if it's plated.
I have seen a few of these for sale since and they are generally advertised as antique. Probably a con but I am not too worried about it's age to be honest. It's attractive, interesting, and has forced me to research.
All good!
Well it does have a lot of eye appeal Karen and I certainly would have bought it for that reason alone. I was checking around on Gothborg's site and there are definitely a lot more Chinese seal marks than Japanese ones. This one seems to fall into the Qianlong seal mark category. There are similar characters in the porcelain marks to compare to this mark. The dates range from 1875-1970 so quite a spread . Just a thought on my part. Here's how they describe them :
These six character marks follow the traditional way of drawing seal marks in archaic seal script, zhuanshu, from the Qianlong period 1736-1795. The manner is a drawing more like an engraving rather than actual hand writing. None of the following marks are of the Qianlong period despite that they say so.
That is great information thanks Mike. My translator had difficulty with the script and I guess if he was only taught in Mandarin it would be very different.
I have seen glass sold before advertised as Qianlong and clearly it is not 200 years old so it is quite possible this bowl is, like that glass, relatively recent, made to look old.
TBH for all I know a little factory in Shengzen is pumping these out as I type.
Thanks again for the help!
Beautiful but agree with Mike. I've seen a few of these, usually the silver is found to be not high enough in silver content. And the enamel work or cloisonné work not up to the standard again in content ....?? It's hard to tell age unless we take a sample for study. Personally I think they are beautiful and I would be happy to buy such gorgeous pieces. But with every thing that does down its best to stay with what you know. :)
I will review your beautiful item tomorrow in the clear of day :) xx stunning
I love this shade of green!!!
Thanks Anne. It's a lovely piece and interesting yet as you say likely not what it is pretending to be. Keep on rocking music girl!
Yeah, Asian antiquities are full of replicas (or forgeries) and we probably all get one some day! I agree they have a value of their own Mudwoman, and I'm so glad you like it! Thanks :)
Thanks Amatoor, the jade is nice.
Hi Karen, as with mudwoman I've never seen anything like it around here. The jade like green is lovely. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled :)