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These two plaques were brought out of China in 1949 by my family. Can anyone help me identify the artist of approximate age?

I have a vey similar plaque mounted as a scholar's screen. The script and seal are different than yours. The dimensions are 5 1/2 x
4 3/4 x 1/8 inches. Yours may have been intended for like mountings. What are the dimensions?
Regards, Jim

They are approximately 4" by 6" and 3/8" thick.

I'm sorry, I mismeasured - they are approximately 3/16" thick, not 3/8".

Purely stylistically(I am no good with cyclical dates) I would say 1920-1935....Looks like the work of bi-botao (Sp.inc?) He also did insect paintings on ceramic (Although mainly seal paste boxes i believe)

Both of these plaques bear the name of Liu Yucen (died 1969), a much copied Jingdezhen porcelain painter. The one with the grasshopper is dated cyclically to 1934 (jiaxu year). The other one is signed "Liu Yucen "Hui" (徻), the latter character meaning a "spacious hall". If I have it right, I suppose this could signify some sort of studio but can't recall seeing the character used like this before. Anyone else have any ideas?

I suggest you search the forum archives for previous postings. Considering how much fakery has been committed in Liu's name, I'm not confident these plaques are original works.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank you for the response. I will do some more research. As I can confirm that these pieces left China in 1949, was there much counterfeiting prior to that date?

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