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does the mark match the bowl?

by Ryan
(Thailand)

Hi there. I am wondering about this bowl, what age it would be? The bowl is beautiful and I am sure it is real, being of Qing or Ming.. but the mark is of a different tone of blue. I am wondering why that is?

Thanks..
Ryan

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bowl
by: peter

Hi Ryan,
It was just a thought because the outside looks as if it were slightly bleached. If there is the least doubt then we have to remove it. You are in a better position to judge as the bowl is with you.

What I thought a bit out of the ordinary is just that sheen on the side, while the bottom glaze is reflecting the light. Well, it could be from scrubbing during use. That would explain why it is mostly on the side looking that way.
It is too difficult to tell what it could be when looking at pictures. The bottom and its age signs look genuine, for sure.
Acid can imitate the bleaching effect of the sea. I thought that to be a possibility because of the different bottom sheen. Except under special circumstances, I would think items lifted from the sea would have the same surface on all sides.

As to your question, yes they put it the fakes in the water too. Maritime growth is sometimes stuck unto the glaze with adhesives. Apart from that I have second hand information that in coastal areas of China ceramics sometimes are placed on the bottom of the sea, in not too deep water, until molluscs, etc. have grown on them, to imitate shipwreck items. But, this can be detected also, if you know how to differentiate growth from shallow and deep water.

Keep alert.
P.
treatment
by: Ryan

I have seen acid dipped Sawankalok pots(bad spelling maybe)here and other items. I have also seen a common plant growth pattern stuck to many different pieces around. I guessed myself that acid treatment was done to make some look older and I was unsure about the dipping in the sea or lake. Is storing fakes in water another treatment they use today?

This piece has a nice satin sheen. I don't think it was in acid because I have seen a number of those and this one is nothing like them. There are no sea growth marks either. I just saw the different white and blue tones which led me to question it. The bowl does seem genuine to me. Do you have any more thoughts on it?

Thanks..
Ryan
bowl
by: peter

Different colors of mark and item are common. I do not know this specific mark, but the item decoration looks as if it would be late Ming to early Qing dynasty. The bottom points rather to Qing dynasty. However, the bottom and sides appear to have a different tone of white, no shine.
Does it look as if the surface has been treated with acid, or as if it were lifted from the sea?

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