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Qianlong or beg. 20th cent. Vase

by Karin
(Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK)

Hi there! I was wondering
if you could help me with some information about this vase that used to belong to my grandparents - possibly acquired in the early part of the 20th century, when they lived in the Far East for several years. I have tried to find out more about the style of decor, subject and colours used, the marks on the bottom etc., to establish it's age and whether it's a copy/reproduction dating from the early 1900's or a piece made during the Qianlong reign. Any tips or info I would hugely appreciate!
Many thanks in advance! And great site, by the way!
Kind regards, Karin

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Nov 30, 2010
 mark
by: peter

Karin,
I forgot to mention this ... one of the characters meaning Qianlong is unclear and could be written incorrectly. If you upload a picture of the mark only I could verify.
Nov 30, 2010
 millefleur jar
by: peter

Hi Karin,
It is a jar not a vase and it would originally have had a lid.
As you suspect, it would be from the early 20th century.
The foot rim seems to be right for that period, but not for the Qianlong period. The same is the case with the mark. Red Kaiti characters were common in the Guangxu reign and early republic. But, in the Qianlong reign the majority of marks were in underglaze blue and in the shape of Zhuanti character seal marks.
It was quite common to add marks from earlier Qing reigns on items made in the late Qing and republic periods. Chinese marks cannot be relied on for deciding age.
You should find many similar items if you do a Google image search with the term "millefleur" (or millefiori).

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