Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries


Visitors' Forum

Asian Art  Forums - Detail List
Asian Art Forums

Message Listing by Date:
Message Index | Back | Post a New Message | Search | Private Mail | FAQ
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.



Subject:Re: Unusual Porcelain Marking
Posted By: mikeoz Thu, Jun 20, 2013

Hi Bill,

Try your parsing on the following:

鎮海煦梅主人自製

My suggestion for the third character (xu 3 - warm, genial, kind, to heat, to be kind) is based on the possibility of a mis-interpretation of some of the sealist designs for the character, which appear to include the 里 element. The only other character I could find which might have fitted the written form is 照. The phonetic element in seal script for 海 and 梅 is hard to see unless you are used to it.

Best wishes

Mikeoz
UTF-8

Subject:Re: Unusual Porcelain Marking
Posted By: mikeoz Thu, Jun 20, 2013

Bill, I had overlooked the possibility of 點 (dian 3 ) which has so many complex interpretations, but one may suit. I doubt that the character is 黠 because of the way the top right element has been written.

Looking forward to your answers.

Mikeoz

Subject:Re: Unusual Porcelain Marking
Posted By: Bill H Fri, Jun 21, 2013

Mike, your genius at this stuff never ceases to amaze. I would've had to take my own journey to the West for some of that Queen mum's peaches to ever have enough time to fathom the right characters for that zhuanshu.

With your considerable contribution to the effort, I turned up three references to this mark on the web in Mainland China, including an April 17, 2013 newspaper article with pictures showing the bowl bearing the mark to have a branch with ripe peaches painted in the round reserve that doesn't show up well in the photo I posted. The mark on the base turned out to be written as follows:

鎮海點梅主人自製 (Zhen hai dian mei zhu ren zi zhi)

Though I plan to dwell on it further, this looks at first glance to translate in a fairly straightforward manner as "Handmade by the Zhenhai Master of Peach Portrayal". Zhenhai is the district around Ningbo, a coastal city in Zhejiang Province. The marked bowl was donated to the Ningbo museum by a prominent local family. See the article in Chinese at the link below.

In context of this mark, "dian" (點) is as used in the term "dianran" (點染 - "to portray in painting" [from Mathews]).

I'm deeply obliged,

Bill H.

URL Title :Master of Portraying Peaches


Subject:Re: Unusual Porcelain Marking
Posted By: Bill H Sat, Jun 22, 2013

With regard my most recent post, a large apology is due for the cerebral cataclysm that sent "peaches" instead of "plums" rolling off the tips of my two typing fingers, a malodorous mental malfunction possibly encouraged by the lateness of the hour.

The corrected translation is:

“鎮海點梅主人自製” (Zhen hai dian mei zhu ren zi zhi)- “Handmade by the Zhenhai Master of Plum Portrayal”

Best regards,

Bill H.


Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |