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Subject:Re: Ming Xuande (1426-36) Mark, 20th century Japanese?
Posted By: Bill H Wed, Feb 25, 2015
The mark reads "Made during the Xuande Reign of the Great Ming Dynasty" (Mandarin: Da Ming Xuan-de Nian Zhi). The mark uses a "de" character that I believe was not used in imperial porcelain reign marks of the Xuande period.
While not claiming to have the last word on the subject, I don't recall seeing a mark like this one identified convincingly as of the Xuande period on bronzes either. That being said, the Chinese did make some champlevé vases similar to this in the 19th century, if not earlier, I think. It may be possible to base judgments re origins in this case on whether the body is cast or fabricated, as well as how thick the base is. Most of the Japanese late 19th century and subsequent champlevé vases I've encountered were fabricated by processes that left conspicuous lines at their joints, in addition to having thin bottoms that sometimes were loosely soldered in place. I believe a lot of the late 19th century Chinese champlevé vases (and other common bronze vessels) were more likely to have sandcast second or later-generation apocryphal Xuande marks that were heavier than on Japanese vases but also were soldered in place. Most but not all had marks containing the same "de" character with horizontal stroke between the "eyes" and "heart" elements on its right side.
Keep in mind, these are my subjective observations, not based on definitive research.
Best regards,
Bill H.
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