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I found this recently at a second hand shop. It has all the characteristics of a typical Dayazhai porcelain piece, except the characters for "Dayazhai" are inside the seal and "tian di jia chun" ("spring throughout heaven and earth - one family") is missing completely.

On the underside of both the planter itself and its base, the characters for "yong qing chang chun" is inscribe in overglaze red by what appears to be an imperial-quality hand. Beneath this, the word "CHINA" is finely scratched into the porcelain surface (on both planter and base).

From the orange-colored oxidation evident between the biscuit and glaze on the feet of both parts, it appears to me that this was made in the 19th century.

I'm curious to know why the "tian di jia chun" is missing, and would be interested to know if anyone's ever seen something similar.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

US law required that imported objects be marked with country of origin from 1891-1914. After that they were marked with "Made in X". Prior to 1891 they may be marked if it was believed that the origin had cache (European china, for example).

Odds are that your piece was made around 1900.

Cheers,
Stan

Hi Mike,
I owned one of these planters a few years ago. It, like yours, was painted with high quality enamels, almost to the standard of the pieces ordered by the Empress Dowager Cixi.

I doubt very much this was one of her orders, but she popularized the design, and apparently many of the wealthy Chinese Mandarins ordered copies to be made.

I believe Cixi placed her first orders in the reign of Tongzhi (1861 to 1875), but most, like this one, were probably made in the succeeding Guangxu reign (1875 to 1908).

A very desirable piece, and with a turquoise glazed Dayazhai plate estimated at (from memory) USD$6,000 to $8.000 in this months auction in New York, who knows what this is worth? I think I paid around USD$350 5 years ago.

Nice find.
Regards
Tony

dear sir,
that would be to 1921,then the "made in" comes in to play.
good looking piece!
mark

Wow! I might just be able to take that vacation to Florida later this year.

I am suprised by the lack of the characters for "tian di jia chun," though I wonder if the placement of "dayazhai" in the oval seal simply indicates it's from the Dayazhai studio. There must have been several variations made around that time.

Thanks for the posts.

Mike

Mike:
The mark of DaYaZhai is not a typical imperial DaYaZhai mark. The quality of the planter is not high class.
It is a DaYaZhai's Copy one.
Its value is not high.

Sinoart

Hi Mike,
Here is a link to a Dayazhai bowl, sold at Sothebys for USD$12,000, for comparison.
http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=4GVZR

URL Title :Dayazhai Bowl at Sothebys

Hi Tony & Sinoart,

Thank you for the replies.

Apparently, yellow-ground wares decorated in grisaille are much less common than turquoise-ground Dayazhai pieces. The reason is that the painting was much more difficult and required highly skilled artisans.

I agree that this isn't a typical Dayazhai pattern. According to what I've read (online, as I don't yet have a reference book yet), Dayazhai wares always include "tian di jia chun" in the oval seal, and "Dayazhai" to the left of the seal. However, there might be another explanation as to why this planter is unique, apart from the possibility that it is an early reproduction.

You'll notice the three hanging bunches of wisteria blossoms just to the seal's left. Perhaps the artist would have been unable to put the "Dayazhai" characters over the grisaille, or chose not to, in order to save the integrity of the design. Looking at the bowl sold by Sotheby's, for example, you can see that the "Dayazhai" characters are in the yellow ground. There simply isn't enough room to do that on this planter. What do you think?

The previous owner actually used this thing and must have had plants growing in it, as it's encrusted with dirt and shows signs of wear (one reason why the enamel might not look that great in the photos). Fortunately, there are no cracks or chips, especially considering the rough treatment planters can sometimes get.

If you have any thoughts on my theory, please let me know.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike:
Enclosed is typical imperial DaYaZhai mark for your reference.
Best regards

Sinoart

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