Old Chinese Ceramic Marks

See a comparison of chinese and non chinese marks.

Old chinese ceramic marks. This selection of marks below contains mainly chinese porcelain marks of the ming and qing dynasties and a few republic period antique marks. Marks on chinese porcelain pieces are even and regular while marks on japanese porcelain will include an odd number and may be in different colors. Click here to see large picture. Zhang yi probably signifies the name of a company tai.

In most cases it will be from the early republican period at the best but more likely to encounter are marks from the 1940s and 50s and later. The identification and authentication of chinese porcelain is a complex process of an overall verification of a number of factors. 8 where a yellow glazed bowl with cranes bearing this mark is illustrated from the collection of the victoria and albert museum london. For any piece of fine china the porcelain mark is a symbol of pride in the manufacturer s workmanship.

See ming wilson rare marks on chinese ceramics london 1998 cat. The shende tang was completed in 1831 thus making daoguang pieces with this mark attributable to the two decades between 1831 and 1850. If you find a manufacturing mark on chinese ceramics styled similarly as the western marks you can be sure that this item is not that old. In the world of ming and qing dynasty art knowing how to look at a reign mark is a key asset for any collector specialist or enthusiast to correctly identify the date and the value of a piece of chinese porcelain.

10 understand this understand this is a difficult process and there are no shortcuts to becoming familiar with chinese porcelain marks. Selection of chinese porcelain marks. Serving as both evidence of its origin age and often times quality the makers mark on a porcelain item is the first place many collectors look before making a purchase. The most comprehensive reference book on chinese reign marks is gerald davison s the handbook of marks on chinese ceramics first published in 1994.

It lists around 1 800 marks including all the major ming 1368 1644 and qing 1644 1911 dynasty imperial reign marks in addition to the many studio marks hall marks and myriad miscellaneous. Identifying chinese porcelain involves more than just knowing the mark in order to decide age and manufacturer as many novices do believe. Later reigns often used reign marks of earlier emperors on chinese porcelain etc. Porcelain marks are the fingerprints of antique china.

This is normally the first character in most ming 1368 1644 or qing dynasty 1644 1911 marks. The first character is the top right character 1 that reads da meaning great. In straits chinese porcelain zhen yi tai is a common mark. Reign marks can be found on chinese ceramics mainly from the early ming dynasty 15 th century through to the qing dynasty 1644.