Can anyone tell me what this was used for? What the character marks mean and the age of this piece. It has been a mystery to me for years. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Lynda, To check the age please provide closeup pictures with good resolution. What would be needed is pictures of the bottom, the unglazed part of the top rim, one or two details of the decoration (can all be partial), and the face of figure. Any blemishes or imperfections should be clearly visible.
From the current pictures it could be vintage at the most. However, the foot looks more like something new. This type of foot was never used in antique Chinese porcelain. If it looks old, but has a new style foot, then that means it was made to look old. It takes experience to distinguish fake antiques from real ones. Please see the pages about age signs and fakes for information.
Feb 01, 2011
Chinese Pot/Jar by: Lynda
That is interesting that it could have been used as a storage Jar. This piece is 5 1/2" in height with a weight of over two pounds. It does look old as it looks like it was used for a long time and is crude, it also looks like there was a repair to two of the characters. The scenes are very nice though. Any guess to the age?
Feb 01, 2011
jar by: peter
Hello, Despite its old look this is possibly not antique. The characters have the auspicious meaning of "wealth and longevity".
As to its use, if the area surrounding the mouth looks like a channel, then it is probably a storage jar of sorts. The jars I know with that feature have usually a wider "middle region", but the mouth is similar. They were/are often used for lard, I believe. The "channel" surrounding the mouth is filled with water or some liquid to keep ants away.
