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I have a small incense pot with characters on the bottom and I would like to know what they say, can you help me?

The standard character apocryphal mark reads down and across from the left as "Made during the Xuande reign of the Great Ming Dynasty", which lasted from 1426-35. The "MADE IN CHINA" mark may safely be assumed to indicate the censer was made after March of 1890, when the USA's Mckinley Tariff act, requiring points-of origin labels on imports was implemented; however, this marking in English also was later applied apocryphally as well. In my opinion, the censer was made circa the 2nd-early 3rd quarters of the 20th century, based on traces left by modern machine tools and the Xuande mark being a secondary casting.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Oops, the mark reads down and across from the right, not left. However, it is translated from the left to render it in proper English.

Sorry 'bout that,

Bill H.

Bill,

The text "Made in" wasn't required until (I thought) 1921 (but I can't find a reference when I want it) pushing the date back to match your opinion.

Cheers,
Stan

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