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Trying to understand the event or storyline the potter was trying to show on this 1920 Shiwan vase.

I do not know if understanding it means looking at these characters as pictograph images to create a storyline, or if the story can be revealed if translated to modern Chinese characters.

I found an exact pictograph match for one, "spring water flowing from a cave or from the mouth of a spring". A second pictograph may be "breaking through soil" (the lower part of the one pictograph).

Either way, I do not know what I am doing or how to understand the meaning or story behind the motifs on this piece.

Would like very much to know, and will greatly appreciate any help :)

I can't make up a story about the carefree potters, but I can read the seal script characters,

Characters read from right to left.
Left side,
大泉　-　Dà quán - Big Spring - Looks like a brand name
Right side,
忠榮　-　Zhōng Róng - ca. Faithful growing - Typical company name in pre-1949 China.

With regards,
I.Nagy

I have no idea of the story. But the characters on the first picture are very clear - Da Yuan 大源 - Big or Great Spring (as shown in your first example). The two figures are climbing out of or falling into what could be a well.

The second picture contains the characters Zhi and Rong 志榮 - with my understanding to mean something along the lines of "aspiring to prosper". The characters are doing fine, and the two at the top are holding a coin.

Thank you both for your help :) Greatly appreciated ..

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