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After spending all day trying to indentify the mark below, I'm left feeling incredibly confused.

Really appreciate some help.

I am a collector of chinese porcelain, and am quite familiar with the standard Kangxi, Tongzi, qainlong, etc however the period/zhi character in the bottom left is not present, hence my confusion......however the characteristics and form of the object are typical of 19th century chinese porcelain (the depths of the cobalt, the firing imperfections, the hand thrown characteristics etc)

PLEASE HELP ME!

This isn't a reign mark. When its two columns are written from left to right it reads:
若深珍藏
ruo shen zhen cang

The earliest vessels with this mark apparently date from the Kangxi era.

The mark is 'Ruo Shen Zhen Cang' (若深珍蔵), translated in 'The New & Revised Handbook of Marks on Chinese Ceramics' by Gerald Davison as 'Precious collection of the seemingly old'

This mark came into use during the Kangxi Period on a category of non-imperial porcelain called "official old ware" that was of a quality rivaling palace porcelains but without imperial markings. Such porcelains were usually commissioned by scholars, other bureaucrats and members of the aristocracy, many of whom marked the pieces with their own studio name. The mark continued to be used in the late Qing and Republic periods, though quality was not even among commercial kilns. There were several Ruoshen collections associated with different collectors.

I've attached some photos of a 1.75 inch-high probable late 19th century Chinese wine cup with contending dragon decoration and the Ruoshen mark on its base. It has an metal collar around its mouth rim, indicating it likely was made for export to Southeast Asia.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Many thanks Bill and rat...
I would have never found that with out you both, and so please to discover it could be kangxi, and I have a pair of them!
I am also glad to discover that my gut feeling about its form and characteristics was right :-)
I have attached a picture of the actual bowl - any idea on value (not that it's important as I'll keep them!)

Apologies it would seem the picture did not attach...from research it would the cross hatching on the dragon is more reminiscent of 19th century opposed to dots during the Kangxi period...would the experts concur?

yes, although the mark was first used during the Kangxi reign, your bowl certainly seems more recent than that, but I defer to those who know more about ceramics about when exactly it was made.

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