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Translation needed - Patrick Norton - May 11, 2011 (08:41 AM)
- Re: Translation needed - Bill H - May 11, 2011 (01:52 PM)
  - Re: Translation needed - Patrick Norton - May 11, 2011 (10:26 PM)
    - Re: Re: Translation needed - Bill H - May 12, 2011 (01:06 AM)

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Subject:Translation needed
Posted By: Patrick Norton Wed, May 11, 2011 IP: 99.123.222.245

Can anyone read this?

Subject:Re: Translation needed
Posted By: Bill H Wed, May 11, 2011

The characters read literally from left to right as 'Beijing, Clay Figures, Zhang (surname)'. There's no way to translate the mark in context without seeing complete images of the object bearing it.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Subject:Re: Translation needed
Posted By: Patrick Norton Wed, May 11, 2011

Thanks Bill, it is a Tang style horse with rider. Beijing Clay Figure Zhang Artcrafts
has been making clay horses for 160 years. Reproductions of Tang horses.

Subject:Re: Re: Translation needed
Posted By: Bill H Thu, May 12, 2011

Thanks for the edification. It's not unusual for subsequent generations to perpetuate the names of well-known Chinese potters and their kilns.

The Mandarin pinyin for this mark is 'Beijing Niren Zhang', wherein 'ni' has a basic meaning of 'mud', and 'ren' is 'man', which I'm sure is where we get 'mudman', the term applied to those ubiquitous clay figurines made at the Shiwan kilns in Guangzhou. So if you want to be campy, you probably could read this mark as 'Beijing Mudman Zhang'.

Best regards,

Bill H.