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Qian Long tea pot

by Bob Brown
(Singapore)

Qian Long teapot

Qian Long teapot

My wife has a beautiful old tea pot which has a back mark that suggests its from the Qianlong era 1736-95. But the back mark uses a more modern sort of script not the archaic zhuanshu type. I'm just wondering whether its the genuine article or merely a later 20th century copy.

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Feb 11, 2012
 Its not Ming
by: Bob Brown

After doing some further research
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlong_Emperor
Its Qian Long - from the Manchu Dynasty
gotheborg.com/marks/qingmarks.shtml

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Bob, the mark is Qianlong, of course. But, that doesn't necessarily mean the item itself is Qianlong.
Viewpoint 1: We cannot automatically assume that porcelain marks are the same as those on other items. In fact, character styles used in marks are different on some censers, jade and stone carvings, paintings, etc.
Viewpoint 2: Using the example of porcelain, the marks used for non-imperial wares were not regulated strictly and there is a multitude of variations.
Viewpoint 3: With bronze censers it is known that many marks are apocryphal (as is the case with porcelain). In later reigns the marks of earlier reigns were used, etc.

Knowing all the copying that has been going on since the Qing dynasty, I am not confident that a mark can be relied on to decide age, even with metal items. (Of course I would like it to be Qianlong, but we should not ignore the facts.)
One is sure, I will keep learning about such items, until I know for sure what is real and what not.
Feb 09, 2012
 tea pot
by: peter

Hi Bob,
This is Jingtai ware (景泰藍), named after emperor Jingtai of the Ming dynasty, I believe. I wish I could answer your question, but this is enameled brass or copper base, about which I am not sure myself.
I have a few censers with this type of decoration.
As you do, I have doubts about there age. The only one with a reign mark has the same type of a Qianlong mark as your pot has. My guess is that some of them are late Qing dynasty, while others could be later. They definitely look old, but I do not know if they were made to look that way or if they ARE old...
Not sure how these enamels age, but I noted that some of the older ones appear to have many minute holes in them, like pores.
The confusing is, that if you look at an auction catalogue, you will find Jingtai wares that look pretty new in comparison. I don't know what is what, honestly said.

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