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Subject:Unusual Porcelain Marking
Posted By: Bill H Tue, Jun 18, 2013 IP: 98.71.214.148
Herewith is the base of an ogee-shaped, sgraftito-ground cup not unlike some produced during the Qing Daoguang period (1821-50) and later. This is the only photo I have at the moment and may have to suffice. For my purposes, this is purely a question regarding the characters and their meaning.
I believe the standard script for this mark would be as follows, with the possible exception of the third character (xia), which is very close to 點 (dian) on the etymology charts:
鎮澆黠橈主人自製 (zhen jiao xia rao zhu ren zi zhi)
I've parsed the characters in every way I can fathom, and come up with possible translations, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. Currently heading the A-list:
Handmade by (自製) the Master of (主人) Municipal (鎮) irrigation (澆) and artful (黠) rowing (橈)
Handmade by (自製) the Master of (主人) town (鎮) flooding (澆) and smart (黠) rowing (橈)
I've turned up nothing on this mark despite rather intensive web searches of the characters (standard & simplified), including in porcelain mark archives such as chinabogu.com and forums like mycollect.net. Makes me wonder if this might be something of recent vintage that has only just been spotted by a friend who shares my interest in weird marks.
I'd greatly appreciate thoughts on alternate contexts for translation. I've considered that zhen (鎮) may mean "Jingdezhen" in the porcelain context. Have also checked key characters in a Buddhist dictionary to see if there are any evident connotations without finding anything conclusive. My overall impression is that this mark was somebody's way of having fun. It is the most exceptional thing about the cup, which appears to be of good export quality but nothing really special.
Thanks,
Bill H.
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