Chinese Porcelain Marks

Almost at the same time that the chinese invented porcelain they also invented marks and copies sometimes to learn sometimes to honor sometimes to deceive sometimes to replace sometimes just to meet a demand.

Chinese porcelain marks.

Reign marks were in common usage at the beginning of the ming dynasty 1368 1644 and. It is said that the only rule that is really certain when it comes to chinese reign marks is that most of them are not from the period they say. Zhang yi probably signifies the name of a company tai. Still the marks are something of a fingerprint of the potter and its time.

On later qianlong copies the seal mark in red enamel is something of a favorite. In straits chinese porcelain zhen yi tai is a common mark. A number of old businesses in san francisco chinatown have this same tai character as the last one in a three character name for example jiu jong tai fa ming tai guang xing tai etc. To read a reign mark it is important to understand how they are written.

Marks of earlier periods have been used throughout almost the history of chinese porcelain. Marks on later chinese porcelain. Chinese porcelain reign marks identification making sense of chinese reign marks. If carefully studied they offer a great help in identifying the date and maker of most chinese porcelain.

Seal marks from the period can also be written in a cartouche or with the seal broken up and on the base of stem cups written in a horizontal row from right to left.