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Anyone can tell me anything about this little tea pot and the red seal/mark on it's base? It certainly looks old, with crazing in the laquer and a red seal on the base. Salmon/fish are hand painted, not printed.

The salmon seems to be goldfish
Ernest

Carp most likely, rather than goldfish or salmon. the mark stamped with a Qianlong reign period mark. 20th century, but I'm not sure when

Your teapot probably dates from the first to second quarter of the 20th century or somewhat later. Traditionally in China, the motif of ornamental carp with their fry amidst water weed is iconic of happy and fruitful marriage. One artist working during that period and widely imitated was Deng Bishan (1874-1930). The link included herewith shows similar porcelain decoration from an earlier thread.

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :Carp in waterweed

Thank you for your replies.
What fascinates me here is the glaze. This little teapot and two other little "vases" I bought from the same shop, are infused with millions of tiny air bubbles that does not make the glaze very transparent.
These air bubbles in the glaze can only be seen, but very clearly, under a x60 Microscope. Not with the naked eye!
I read on another website that this type of glaze "could" possibly date 2 or 3 of these items back to the Ming Dynasty?
Is this true or is this type of glaze with millions of air bubbless fairly common in later 20th Century re production Chinese Porcelain as well? I can post a photo of the two little vases (12 cm and 9 cm tall) if anyone is interested.
Thanks in advance for replies, much appriciated.

See photographs in "small Ming vases" post, posted on the 9th December.
I'd be very interested to hear comments on these tiny air bubbles that apparently can be found in (old Chinese?) porcelain according to another site.
Has anyone ever done any research on this or managed to take detailed photographs of genuine "air bubbles" in old Chinese Porcelain?

There are indeed scholarly articles on air bubbles in porcelain glazes, you'd have to consult specialist books and journals (eg Artibus Asiae, etc) for them though.

Yet the combination of the form/glaze/decoration/colors of your small pot doesn't look like anything I'm aware of produced during the Ming, which I think is the larger challenge in suggesting a Ming connection.

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