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Hi All,

Has anyone ever seen markings like this before? If so, I would greatly appreciate any information possible. Thanks for your time.

China, Ming dynasty...but not genuine
Ernest

Hi and thank you for your response to my post. Can you tell me how you came to the conclusion that it's not genuine? Also, what was the give away for it being Chinese/Ming Dynasty? I'm trying to learn as much about this incense pot as possible. Thanks Again!

Reading down from the top right it says 'Made during the Xuande Reign of the Great Ming Dynasty' (Da Ming Xuande nian zhi).

Chinese bronze-casting of the Xuande reign (1426-35) was admired for its sophistication not only during the rest of the Ming era but the Qing period as well. The antiques market is still brimming with Xuande-marked bronzes, usually censers, made from Qing to modern times. Almost any genuine Xuande bronze worth its patina is now in a museum or major private collection.

Whatever bears the mark you've presented isn't an authentic period piece because first of all there is significant filling of cavities that would have been present in the Ming thing because bronzesmiths of the time had reputations to uphold. The preceding and the mark's general lack of crispness suggests it may be an impression of an impression. If not that, then it was seriously eroded in the process of buffing out manufacturing imperfections that decidedly are not the hallmark of Xuande bronzes.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Post a picture.
Ernest

the mark reads "da ming xuande nian zhi", or "made in the xuande reign period of the great ming (dynasty)". the xuande period was known for high quality bronzes (and ceramics) and these characters have therefore been used to mark bronzes ever since. yours are not possibly attached to a genuine xuande vessel becuase their quality is so low as to be nearly illegible and also because they ordinarily were written in a different type of script.

Dear JOHN
The mark says DA MING XUAN DE NIAN ZHI:GREAT MING XUAN DE PERIOD MADE
I am not good enough to tell if it is genuine but I heard that there is a lot of bronze censer of later period carry this mark from the 18th century onwards
Kind regards
toan

Seems to be Da Ming Xuande Nian Zhi. (Made in the Xuande reign of Ming dynasty)
The writing is in an old type of character.
Please note that although the mark says Ming dynasty it doesn't mean necessarily that the item was truly made then. A lot of censers of bronze and brass were made from the Qing dynasty until the present, having marks attributing them to the Xuande reign.

Wow! Thank you so much everyone for your expertise! I appreciate it more than words can say. I'm posting 2 more pictures, 1 of the entire pot just for a little more FYI and one of an inscription at the top of the pot which might help to finally put an end to this mystery. Can anyone tell me what it says? Last favor....I promise! Thanks again!

Hello John,

It says 'Censer of the Ninth Universal Revolution'. From left to right this is 'jiu zhuan qian kun lu'. Please see the image below where I include some more literal character meanings.

I believe this from the cyclical dating system, and 'qian' also is the first of the 'eight trigrams' or 'bagua'.

I don't have the overall chart for the 'big' dates like this and hope my mentor Bill or others may be able to put the date into context.

Best regards,

Bill H.

This pieces is a censer, an object commonly used by scholars and temples to burn incense, since antiquity. such used for burning were usually made from bronze and sometimes porcelain. The purpose of burning incense was to produce a nice fragrance, to repel mosquitos and pests including demons. It was also used in temples as a item of worship. They were appreciated as a art object particularly by scholars. the ming Xuande mark was a common mark used on incense censers, even when they were made long after the Xuande reign. Perhaps it was a popular believe that incense burner made in the period was the superior in quality. incense burners came in all sort of shapes and sizes. Some in the temples are as tall as a single storey building and others are small and petit.
Unfortunately your censer is modern. It was probably made as a art object for tourists. there is a horribly lot of good replicas and out right fakes in the Chinese art market. The art of replicating and faking can be traced back to as far as the Song dynasty, a thousand years ago. Anyway next time you visit a public museum or art gallery make sure you look out for a ming censer. It is a good place to learn about antiques.

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to thank everybody for their enlightening contributions to my post. My thanks also to the organizers of this great forum as well. Mystery solved!

Hi - Hope someone can help me figure out these 2 pieces of antique Chinese things, one vase looks very old probable from the Ming dynasty but not sure of the markings and the other signature stamp has really strange writing - please help if you can - thanks rich

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