Posted 12 years ago
mikelv85
(1232 items)
Found these two pieces today. They don't say made in China or Japan either. The 8 1/2" tall jar's mark I looked up and it appears to be the mark for "Chia Ch'ing" (1796-1820).These marks have to be exactly executed or they mean nothing. The 10 1/4" tall vase's mark has a Kangxi "artemesia leaf " mark (1690-1720) on it's bottom.There are several versions of these that I have seen, Again they can be put on any piece old or new. I'll be kind and I won't say they are "fakes". There are companies that make these as reproductions by students studying porcelain design. Frankly I think they are reproductions with reproduced marks but porcelain doesn't age like glazed ceramics or pottery. It can look like new even from a wreck at the bottom of the ocean ! The hand painting looks real enough but neither piece looks like it's 200 plus years old and for the five bucks I paid for both of them, wouldn't it be amazing if they were that old ! I'm not a antique porcelain expert so I thought it's better to be safe than sorry when I bought them. Yes, I want to be the next person to find that 2 million dollar piece for 3 bucks ! ...lol -Mike-
I was reading that unlike "western" ceramic marks that easily and accurately identify pieces, dates and makers, import pottery and porcelain marks are not so accurate. They can be put on a piece for any particular reason and are not always date specific to the piece itself.
Just to make sure if the mark on the jar was what I had looked up, I took the picture of the mark to my friend who runs the local Chinese buffet. He and his wife both speak and write Mandarin and a little Japanese. He looked at it and said "made in the reign of Emperor Chia Ch'ing." he also said that was 250 years ago ! So I guess it's a good copy and a good copy of the original mark. Interesting.....
Bummer, Found 2 large hairline cracks in the tall vase from the neck half way through the body on both sides ! So if it's worth anything, now it's worth a lot less. They are practically invisible, but I was looking at the painting detail under a strong light with a magnifying glass and I found them. I wondered why it didn't have the same "ring" as the jar. So disappointed :(
Sorry for the cracks. On to the next!
Thanks nldionne, it goes with the territory which I'm sure you've "been there done that" too. Need to find something today that's really great to make up for this. Seems to be a lull though, places are starting to look empty. Too many garage sales I think.
We have our trader days flea market this weekend, think I'll hit it today. There will be yard sales for about 5 miles on either side so maybe find something interesting. It's really cold here, had to cover as many plants as possible. Was at 32 degrees for an hour or so, now that's a bummer!