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Subject:A NEW MARK? Not in Gerald Davison handbook
Posted By: Tim Sat, Nov 21, 2015 IP: 76.110.209.69

Has anyone seen this mark before? I can not find it in Davison's handbook of chinese marks.

I bought this Qianjiang brush holder (I think it's a brush holder)at auction recently. One of my Chinese friend's identified the artist who painted the porcelain as Wang YouTang.

Apparently, the calligraphy states the brush holder was a gift to an artist, but my friend was not able to identify the name. Can anyone offer some help with this?

Also, there is a bit of a mystery of the form of the brush holder that I am interested in discovering. One side is has an opening in the lower part, the other is a solid porcelain side. Any reason for this? I'm use to seeing cylindrical brush holders....this is something I've not seen before.

Thanks for the help.









Subject:保善堂施 Gifted by Bao Shan Tang
Posted By: Super Sat, Nov 21, 2015

I cannot say you friend's translation of the painter (artist) of this piece is absolutely incorrect since your picture is kind of blurry and if he examined the piece in person, may be he would indeed see more than we can.

However, the name of the artist appears to be 陳友棠, Chen You Tang, and the last name appears to be Chen instead of Wang.

The name of the friend to whom he gifted this piece was 少溪 Shao Xi without any last names.

Unfortunately, I could not find anything on either person.

The four character mark on the bottom of your piece, from right to left, top to bottom are:
保善堂施

First three characters 保善堂 Bao Shan Tang is usually the name of a Chinese herbal shop (that can manufacture and sell Chinese herbal products).

Example: https://shop103817353.world.taobao.com/shop/view_shop-dd6051719bcb1ab24bfddcaf8c6dc39d.htm

The last character施 Shi means giving out/distribute for free, usually a lot of Chinese herbal shops would give out their famous herbal products to the public for free.

I have no idea why it was at the bottom of your piece. Did they put some of their herbal products inside this piece and gave then together to the public for free or? May be rat and other can shed some light. Hope this helps. Super

Subject:Re: 保善堂施 Gifted by Bao Shan Tang
Posted By: Super Sun, Nov 22, 2015

I stand corrected, the last name of the artist could indeed be Wang though the character was indeed very blurry.

Subject:Re: 保善堂施 Gifted by Bao Shan Tang
Posted By: rat Sun, Nov 22, 2015

汪友棠 is a known ceramic artist though, I think this object is meant to be by him. My guess is that it may be as Bill H suggests a home altar holder for joss sticks

Subject:Re: A NEW MARK? Not in Gerald Davison handbook
Posted By: Bill H Sat, Nov 21, 2015

The last line, on the left side of the larger inscription, is signed as "Sketched by Wang You Tang" (Wang Youtang Xie - 汪友棠寫). I think there may be a cyclical date of Jia Chen (甲辰 - 1904) in the middle line, though I'm not certain of Chen as the second character. Perhaps Super or another contributor who's better-versed in cursive script can sort out the rest.

Your presumed brush holder also resembles an opium bowl or damper stand (see links below for examples in wood). Since these stands for the business ends of opium pipes usually have drawers or compartments for other smoking tools, I would guess that the open side of yours might have accommodated a drawer, made of ceramic or wood, which is now missing. Otherwise, I'd think there would be no reason for the stand to have an enclosed base. Similar stands also were made for Chinese tobacco pipe bowls, and could have been used as a temple or home altar joss-stick holder as well.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/318114_wood-pipe-bowl-stand

http://www.dagoodstuff.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=1125


The mark in red looks to read "Cannon Defending the [or this] Charitable Institution" (Bao Shan Tang Pao - 保善堂砲). Shantang could also be translated as "Benevolent Institution".

Best regards,

Bill H.

Subject:Re: A NEW MARK? Not in Gerald Davison handbook
Posted By: Bill H Sun, Nov 22, 2015

Hey Super, I think you nailed it on the head with 'Shi' instead of 'Pao'. My source for 'Shantang' as 'Charitable/Benevolent institution' is the venerable Mathews Dictionary, which was being compiled in Wang Youtang's lifetime. As such I feel on safe grounds with using it as a basis for translation, as compared to introducing the thought of an herbal medicine shop freebie. The institutions of the time included hospitals and even drug addiction treatment centers.

Mathews defines 'Shi' (施) as "To bestow; to grant. To act; to do. To exhibit. Used to strengthen the verb which it precedes." Modern dictionaries lose quite a bit of the classical flavor in my opinion. So in conjunction with 'Shi' on the end, I would propose for 保善堂施 simply "Bestowed toward the Preservation of this Benevolent Institution."

As to Wang Youtang, he is in the Davison handbook and the gotheborg.com archive. His is a name that has dragged me through the translation wringer in the past. What makes 'Wang' (汪) look like 'Chen' (陳) sometimes is that Wang was not consistent in the way he wrote the character. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly of Wang Youtang signatures.

Best regards,

Bill H.



Subject:Re: A NEW MARK? Not in Gerald Davison handbook
Posted By: Anthony J Allen Sun, Nov 22, 2015

Hi Tim,
As Bill mentions, I have also seen these described as a display stand for opium pipe damper bowls.
Regards
Tony

Subject:Re: A NEW MARK? Not in Gerald Davison handbook
Posted By: Tim Tue, Nov 24, 2015

Thank you, Super, Bill H., Rat, and Tony.
Your collaborative effort was extraordinary. Curios to know what shape pipes would have been stored on the stand. I'm thinking it might be an area of collecting I can expand upon, even if only to add to this fascinating stand.

Subject:Re: A NEW MARK? Not in Gerald Davison handbook
Posted By: Paul Mon, Feb 29, 2016

What are the general dimensions?
Do you want to sell it?

Thanks.


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