•

. MUSEUMS DEPARTMENT, FEDERATION OF MALAYA

Popular Pamphlet No. 6

• THE MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN

by

H. H. Beamish, F. R. S. A., M. R. S. l.

Member of the Oriental Ceramics Society .

{ )

eIB 2

Published by the Museums Department, of Federation of Malaya, at Kuala Lumpur, and Printed by The Standard Engravers & Art Printers, Kuala Lumpur,

1954.

Price 35 cents or 10 d.

1 7 AU G 199 Perpustakaan Negara

Malaysia

THE MARKS ON CHINESE PORCELAIN.

METHOD OF MARKING AND THE MEANING OF MARKS ON

TRADE PORCELAIN.

Foreword by the Author.

It is true that collectors and students would be unwise to take the marks on Chinese porcelain as sole evidence of the date or period of manufacture. They may be a h elp, but not necessarily so. Since the early part of this century, when Chinese ceramics first received the world-wide recognition that is their undoubted due, many collectors have learnt this to their cost.

To the uninitiated, the marks can be misleading, though they were never intended to be by the inscribers. Generally speaking, and this is what makes the study so interest ing and unusual, there was, until recent times, no deliberate deception, no intention to confuse scholars. The in­correct att ributions were made for quite different r easons and when these are appreciated, th e marks can indeed become a useful guide. The early Chinese potters, at least until the beginning of the 19th century, do not appear to have entertained any doubts about t he moral right to ascribe their best products to an earlier period that they may have admired. They were perfectly honest in th eir admiration, unlike the modern manufacturer of imitations whose one hope is to t rap the unwary into buying a fake antique piece. Particularly in Japan, remarkable skill h as in fact been achieved in the production o.f these modern imitations, many of which are inscribed , but such pieces are no concern of th is pamphlet and it is fortunate perhaps that the best of them are copies of the work of pre­Ming dynasties, before genera} marking began.

The subj ect is a wide one and as new discoveries are made at kiln and trading sites year by year , it continues to expand. Much of it is still conj ecture, though the broad prinCiples are now quite well understood. As usual, the' best way to learn to recognise and understand the significance of the marks on Chinese porcelain is to study the m arked pieces themselves. In Malaya, the museums are well supplied with Ming and Ch'ing fragments, which can be used for this purpose and it is of added interest that most of them were found in our own soil on sites than can be dated with some accuracy.

Th is brief survey of Chinese porcelain marks is bas.ed largely on such a study and will draw attention to certain recent discoveries in Malaya that do not appear to have been remarked before. My grateful thanks are due to Mr. M.W.F. Tweedie, Director of Raffles Museum, Singapore, and to Mr. Han Wai Toon for permission to copy marks from their collections and

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to Mr. Sze Chu Sian for copying them. Valuable information was also derived from Mr. Han Wai Toan's learned article on this subject in the 1953 Annual of the China Society.

CHINESE PORCELAIN IN MALAYA.

Types found and their origin.

Trade with China began during the Ming Dynasty, (A.D.1358-1643) and in the 16th and 17th Centuries, the volume was considerable. To ex­change for the raw materials that Malaya could supply, Chinese traders sent great quantities of the robust "export" porcelain, mostly produced at kilns near Chuan Chew and in Swatow and Fukien Province, which found a ready market in all the "South lands." Thanks to its robustness, a large number of plates and bowls of this type have survived centures of domestic use in all parts of South East Asia and to supplement our knowledge of trade porcelain numerous sites exist in Malaya. and the surrounding coun­tries, where broken fragments still litter the ground. After heavy monsoon rain the surface stocks are replenished by more sherds washed from below the level of the earth. By far the most plentiful are the products of the period of the emperor Wan Li (A.D.1573-1619), whose forty-six year reign saw the Chinese export trade in porcelain swell to a tiood. It is, therefore, the pottery and porcelain of the latter part of the Ming dynasty, when the Portuguese were in Malaya, that concern this country most, though good examples of classical early Ch'ing (A.D.1644-1850) pieces can also be found here as well as in Indonesia.

Wares of the earlier dyna,sties of Yuan (A.D.1280-1368) and Sung (A.D.960-1280) are rare, though broken pieces have been found in associa­tion with contemporary burials, and there is practically nothing that can reliably be attributed to the first millenium of the Christian era. The few undistinguished Sung Vessels that sometimes turn up on the market may well have been h ere since the time of that dynasty in China, but the older pottery and porcelain pieces now in Malayan collections were probably brought in much more recently. It is worth remembering therefore that when Chinese ceramic wares first appeared in this country they had long traditions of quality behind them ; excavations in Honan and Kansu by Professor J.G. Andersson established the existence of a pottery industry in China around 3000 B.C., the first glazed wares appeared during the Han dynasty (B.C. 206- A.D.220) and porcelain was "discovered", probably by chance, in the early years of the T'ang period.

Malaya is fortunate indeed in its early trade connections with China, but it may not be cut of place to regret that these did not begin five hund­red years earlier. Had the country been of sufficient importance to attract the attention of Chinese traders and the patronage of the Emperor at that time, our handsome stocks of Ming blue and white and "coloured" porce­lain would hav~ been enriched by the exquisite though less ornate wares of T'ang and Sung, whose beauty of form and colouring has never been surpassed.

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CLASSIFICATION OF PORCEJ .. AIN .

. Imperial and Export Ware.

It is possible to divide the porcelain products of the Ming and early Ch'ing dynasties into the two broad classifications of Imperial and Export wares.

Imperial ware was intended for the home market and the connois­seur, more specifically for the Emperor himself and his Court. Little of it found its way overseas. except occasionally in the form of a gift to a friendly ruler or to the head of a state owing allegiance to China. Im­perial ware is more delicate and finished than the Export · variety and was produced almost exclusively at the Imperial factory of Kingtehchen, ' the pottery centre established in Ming times. In its manufacture, the potter exerted his utmost skill and ingenuity. Generally speaking it is the cream of the products of the kilns and any piece that did not reach the high standard the potter set himself would be destroyed, or let it be confessed, marked for export. Certain emperors, such as that great patron of the arts Ch'ien Lung (A.D.1736-1795) personally received the great bulk of Imperial ware output. Only the best could be offered under such circum­stances and t.he penalties for failing to reach the Imperial standard were often severe, the greatest perhaps being loss of reputation. Such ware is not dimcult to identify, even when the five clawed dragon or the five tailed phoenix, symbols that could only be used on porcelain made for the em­peror, are absent. Pieces are nearly always marked with the reign or date and often carry other inscriptions. Unfortunately, Imperial porcelain is very rare in Malaya.

Chinese Export wares are, on the other hand, quite common. Three types of porcelain come in this general classification, only one of which is of major concern to Malaya ; that is the type of porcelain manufactured specially for the export trade, with the particular needs and tastes of the Near East and South East Asian markets in mind. Of the other varieties, there are what might be called in the modern idiom, "Imperial rejects," some of which are to be met with in Malaya, and those wares made to the order of wealthy customers. In this latter category, which dates mainly from the early part of the 18th Century when the Western world first be­came aware of the excellence of Chinese porcelain, are found dinner and tea services inscribed with the armorial bearings of aristocratic families in Britain and other European countries. The extremely popular "Famille Rose" porcelain of Yung Cheng (AD.1723-1735) features prominently in this trade. Some examples in the British Museum are even marked with the date of manufacture in the Western calendar and documentary evidence, in the form of bills and invoices, still survives in the case of! others. A few pieces of this export "armorial" porcelain are known to date from the Ming Period and to have been made, and even painted, at King­tehchen. Very valuable evidence of the date of various styles of manu­facture has been obtained from them.

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Th2 great bulk of Chinese classical porcelain found in Malaya is, h owever, of quite a differ ent type and origin. These are plates and bowls of sturdy construction and practical design. Sometimes the Ming pieces are rather roughly finished, with burnt sand from the ld ln left adhering widely to the glaze of a great part of the underside. Designs are gene­rally bolder and cruder and patterns of Islamic inspiration and even inscriptions iv. Arabic script are encountered. Several plates, which were obviously made to the order of, or perhaps as a gift for , Moslem rulers in this region, can be seen in private collections in Malaya and also in the Djakarta Museum, which is very rich in all types of trade procelain. Important discoveries of such ware have been made in recent years in Borneo too.

Celadons of a h efty construction, very unlike the delicate jade­like creations of Northern Sung, were shipped here in great quant ltie3 and must have been most popular. These green plates were, it is said, endowed with the power of detecting poison in food; they were supposed to change colour in contact with poison and to have been in great demand for this reason.

Trade porcelain is frequent ly, though inaccurately, called Swatow ware from one of its chief places of origin. Though it is far remov­ed in appearance from the finished products of the Imperial factories , there is much to commend it, nota bly a simple beauty and remarlmble strength. The "biscuit" of many pieces is as much as half an inch in thickness and high fired glazes were liberally applied. An immense variety of Export porcelain from the Ming, early Manchu and K'ang Hsi periods still s Cl rvives and research into the subject is far from exhausted yet. Only recently the National Museum discovered a hitherto unrecorded olive green version of the Swatow "white fern" design which aroused considerable interest in England. Fragments of Swatow ware have been unearthed in many parts of Malaya, notably in South Johore , Malacca and North­Central Pahang. In addition, quantities are still in private ownership and even use , h aving survived several centuries of "washing up". Rarely can better value have beer.. obtained in domes tic crocl~ery. A let of th :lse pieces are devoid of inscription of any kind , but many are marked, even with the full six character reign i.nscription. On the other h and and for some unexplained reason, the Celadon ware, which ranges in colour from grass green to brown, is always unmarked, perhaps because of the difficulty of making the writing show up against the dark background.

EARLY MARKING.

Chinese potters were not in the habit of marking their wares before the advent of the Ming dynasty in A.D.1368. In Sung and T'ang times no marking of any kind was in general use, though isolated pieces do show an occasional craftsman's "signature" or dynasty mark. An interesting exception to this rule is the numbering on the various sizes of Sung

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dynasty Chun ware bulb bowls, which is so modern in appearance and apparently so practical, in the up-to-date business sense, that it comes as something of a surl)rise to learn that these pieces are usually over 800 years old.

When antique porcelain is found bearing . an inscription, it is quite likely that this was added many centuries later. The emperor Ch'ien Lung (A.D.1736-1795) is probably the chief offender in this respect. He was very fond of inscribing his own poems and words of flowery praise on classical pieces of great rarity or outstanding beauty. There is a famous lavender coloured dish of the extremely rare Ju ware (Sung) in the B.ritish M1,lseum, decorated in this way.

MARKS IN THE MING AND CH'ING DYNASTIES.

Since the time of the flrst Ming ruler, Hung Wu (A.D.1368-1398) it has been the practice to inscribe porcelain with the reign mark of the p~riod of manufacture or, and this is most important to remember, of the petiod to which the craftsman wished to dedicate his piece, either as a compliment to the piece itself or to the period of attribution. Generations o~ Western collectors have deplored this practice without appreciating the fact that the Chinese are by no means so obsessed as Westerners are with the fact of antiquity alone. Chinese collectors throughout history have been far more interested in the quality of a piece than in its age. The practice, therefore, of inscribing what Westerners would call "the wrong date", has never been regarded by either craftsmen or collectors in China as ·undesirable. It does however make research into the period of origin . more difficult, and pleasant pictures can be conjured up of a potter exa­mining with awed surprise a piece that has turned out of the kiln parti­cularly well. He may have admired the brillance of its blue and, if he was a · late Ming potter, decided without hesitation, that it deserved no less than to be attributed to the Hsuan Te period of the first half of the 15th Century, when the magnificent Mohammedan cobalt blue first made its appearance in China.

The mark can be found on any part of a vessel, but was normally made on the underside of the base. In Ming times it was nearly always painted in underglaze blue and enclosed in a double ring. Contrary' to popular belief, the double ring by itself has no period significance, for it continues in general use until the present day. The calligraphy is usually of a h igh standard for every care was taken to see that the mark never detracted from the appearance of the vessel. Although marks were most frequently written in normal characters, they were often 'stamped on as a; seal in which other characters were employed. Sometimes the common reJgn mark is enclosed in a square 01' lozenge shaped frame and made to resemble a seal.

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TYPES OF MARK.

There are six types of mark to be found on Chinese porcelain:

1. The Reign or Date Mark. 2. The Hall Mark. 3. The Symbol. 4. The Mark of Felicitation or Commendation. 5. The Signature. 6. The Mark of Greeting (Export).

All these marks are to be found on the type of porcelain exported to Malaya, though some are much more common than others. Marks of felicitation or praise were quite naturally confined to the better quality pieces and those set aside for Imperial use; hall marks too were reserved for such selected pieces. Chinese potters seem to have exercised admirable restraint in their use of such special marks and it can be taken as a fairly accurate indication of their high opinion of a piece if such a sign of com­mendation is seen upon it. Thus an interesting light is thrown on the particular tastes of the period and on the style and colouring that the craftsmen were trying to perfect at the time.

On a rough estimate it might be said that only twenty per cent of export (Swatow) wares for this South East Asian market had any marks placed on them. This figure is based on study of the base fragments from the two main sites in Malaya, to be seen in the National Museum and Raffles Museum, Singapore. One explanation of this scarCity of mark­ed pieces may be that the vessels were intended for cUl>tomers having no knowledge of the Chinese language and therefore unable to appreciate the significance of an inscription. Similarly this may partly account for the symbol, surprisingly common on early Ch'ing porcelain expored to this region, but it does not explain the comparative scarcity of trade and expor­ters' marks which would not be intended for the customer's benefit at all.

HOW TO READ THE CHARACTERS.

The usual form of writing is employed in the majority of marks. though archaic characters and local variants were sometimes used. Deci­phering is, therefore , a fairly simple matter, though there are still marks. particularly in the seal form, that defy interpretation even by Chinese scholars. Other marks are written cursively and in abbreviated form. mostly on Export ware. If there are a number of characters arranged in parallel columns, these should be read from top to bottom, starting with the right hand column. The same system of reading applies normally to seal characters. The calligraphy is often very fine and, on Swatow por­celain particularly, the writing is sometimes large, bold and full of "bone." Occasionally, however, one meets with what can almost be called 'micro­writing,' probably an indication of except.ional sk!l1 or even of modesty in the craftsman.

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THE REIGN AND DATE MARKS.

The nien hao or reign mark is by far the commonest form on both Imperial and Export porcelain. It is found normally in six characters but not infrequently the first two, giving the dynasty, are left out. All the

Fig. 1. Four character Ming reign mark of Lung Ch'ing. This is a Most unusual mark as the two characters of the reign are omitted in­stead of the dynasty mar k , the normal

omission. (lohore Lama).

Fig. 2. Six character reign mark of the Ming emperor Hsuan Te (1426-35)

(Kampong Makam Sultan, Kota Tinggi) Raffles Mus e u m Collection.

Fig. 3. Six character reign mark (Nlen Hao) of Ming Ch'eng Hua. (1465-87)

(Kota Tinggi).

Ming and Ch'ing dynasty reign marks are given on pages 17 and 18. As might be expected, the omission is commonest in the early reigns of the Ming dynasty, before the great family name had earned its universal res­pect abroad for the excellence of its porcelain. The reverse has been noted on one or two isolated late Ming fragments found in Malaya, where the single dramatic character 'Ming' has been Inscribed.

In romanised Chinese a full reign mark of Hsuan Te (A.D.1426-1435) would read 't a ming hsuan te nien chi' meaning 'made (chi) in the time (nien) Hsuan Te of the Great (ta ) Ming dynasty.

SEAL CHARACTERS.

Only infrequently are seals met with on Export wares of the late Ming, but in t h e Manchu t ransition and Ch'ing dynasty this type of mark becam e more and m ore popular.

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On Ch'ien Lung (A.D.1736-1795) pieces, for example, the seal was employed almost exclusively. It can even be said to have become an or­nament by then, being very carefully drawn and in a wide variety of colours, including gold.

Fig. 4. ~ s8 ~ IIll The reign mark of Ch'ien Lung U tfJ J in seal characters. The com-monest form of marking on ' ~ ~ tE ~ 'f vessels 0/ thi, [kriod. n.n g f Jill ill

Generally speaking early seals set a problem in interpretation and occasinally on Ming export ware convey no indication of period or place of manufacture. The simplest of these may amount to little more than crude trade marks whose significance is often lost.

Fig. 5.

Seal mark on the base of Ming export porcelain. Probably a trade mark.

~ illi Fig. 6.

Seal denoting "Happiness" (Fuku) Ming mark fre,quently fa u n d a n Japanese porcelain. (J ohare Lama. Collection of the National Museum, Malaya).

A most unusual and interesting Ming date mark in the form of a seal was found a short while ago in this country and is illustrated (Fig. 7) .' . It was inscribed on the underside of a small blue and white bowl and appears' to , be unique in Malayan collections.

Fig. 7. Cyclical date mark in the form oi a seal. Ming Dynasty.

(Johore Lama).

DATE MARKS.

Chinese dating by the so-called cyclical system starts from the year 2637 B.C. and marks based on this system are not uncommon. Mostly; however, they occur on ~mperial wares. The cycle is of sixty years dura­tion and each year in it has a name made up of two characters, a combina­tion of one of the 'ten stems' and 'twelve branches'. This marl{ can, therefore, reveal the actual year of manufacture, but only if other evidence of period is given. The date mark alone, particularly on a piece that cannot easily be attributed by its appearance, is of lit tle value. If, however , other evidence is available, very precise information can be obtained from it , for there is no reason to suppose this mark was ever made purposely in­accurate. Occasionally the date mark is combined with the nien hao (reign mark) and preCise dating of a piece is thus made easy. I~ t he British Museum collection there is a rare example of a date mark alone serving this purpose. The inscription states that the piece was made in the "Hsin-Ch'ou year recurring"; Hsin Ch'ou, the 38th year of the cycle, has only recurred once in Imperial history and that was in the 60th year of K'ang Hsi's reign, A.D.l'721. This is, however , a most exceptional case , and normally date marks are helpful only if ,other evidence of the period of manufacture is available.

HALL MARKS.

Few people realise that Hall Marks originated with the Chinese potter. For several centuries such marks have been stamped on the gold and silver ware of Western Europe, but long before that the early Ming carftsmen employed them on the best of the products of their kilns. They first came into general use in the Hsuan Te and Cheng Hua (15th Century) dynasties and It means precisely what the name implies. The "t'ang" or hall referred to in the marks is the factory or stUdio of manu­facture of the piece . . Their use was not confined to the larger factories , in­deed they appea'r to have been used most frequently by the small potter, whose "t'ang" was probably his private house or small workshop. The title of the hall is normally the family name or speCial art-name of the potter himself, though it is not uncommon to find the h all given a title of praise, such as "j ade hall." ,

FiR. 8. J-:t:" T ... MinE? Hall mark reading "The 1;t... ~ nice bowl from the Hall (Studio) of Y ok Tong". ~ ~

(Kampong Makam Sultan). -..J; ~

Such marks are to be seen on the type of porcelain that found its way into the South East Asian market. They can often be regarded as a