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Intricate Asian Earthenware Vase

by Ron
(Chinn)

Vase Front

Vase Front

Hi all,

I am looking for any help that you can give me with respect to the vase pictured below. This vase is believed to have been given to my great grandfather in the 1920's while he was a village elder. It is unclear exactly why he was given the vase, however it is believed that it was repayment for a fairly significant favor.

The vase is approximately 10 inches tall, and perhaps 4 inches in diameter. A 3 dimensional mountain scene with trees has been sculpted into the vase, complete with a hut of some sort, and two seated people under a triangular roof. They appear to be playing a board game. Just to give you an idea of the scale and level of intricacy, the base of the roof is probably 16-17mm, and the seated people are probably no taller than 2mm.

A mark appears to be stamped on the base of the vase (shown below)

Has anyone ever seen something like this before? I appreciate any insight that you might have.

Thank you,
--Ron

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Jan 04, 2012
 carved vase
by: peter

Hello,
I cannot help you much with this, I'm afraid, but I will give you a few observations.

The foot of the vase indicates that it has some age. The item would be rather a creation of the 20th century, though. If it is Chinese it would probably have to be from the 20th century rather than earlier, because artistic expressions like we see here would have been rare if not absent in the 19th century or earlier.

The subject looks typical Chinese, possibly showing two immortals playing Go.
The thatched roof gives an impression as if it were from either southern China or Southeast Asia. In China roofs seldom were built with such a steep angle, even if thatched, but it is not possible to exclude that possibility completely, of course.

The mark seems to be "Yi Ye", meaning "one page" or "one sheet" (of paper, for example). Sounds like an artist's name.

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