blue double circles, or the use of auspicious symbols in underglaze blue such as an artemesia leaf, a lingzhi mushroom or the head of a ruyi sceptre. Zhuanshu, or seal-form imperial reign marks, found favour during the Yongzheng period (17231735) and were used throughout the 19th century. The six-character Daoguang period mark above belongs to a blue and white stem cup and is written in zhuanshu reading Da Qing Daoguang Nian Zhi, or ‘Made in the Great Qing Dynasty during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor’ (1821-1850). Note the characters are much more stylised and angular than kaishu script.
Below A small blue
and white stem cup. Daoguang six-character seal mark in underglaze blue, 8.6cm (3in) high. Estimated at £5,000£7,000, it sold for £6,250 at the same sale
Daoguang six-character seal mark in underglaze blue
Above A blue and
white lanca dish. Yongzheng sixcharacter mark in underglaze blue, 15.5cm (6in) in diameter. Estimated at £6,000-£8,000, it sold for £13,750 at the same sale Left Yongzheng reign mark vertical in underglaze blue
For example, the two six-character reign marks read: Da Ming Jiajing Nian Zhi, ‘Made in the Great Ming dynasty during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor’ (1522-1566) and Da Qing Yongzheng Nian Zhi, translating as ‘Made in the Great Qing dynasty during the reign of the Emperor Yongzheng’ (1723-1735). The first appears on the base of a blue and white jar and the second on the base of a blue and white ‘lanca’ dish. Reign marks can make for a handy dating tool, but buyers should beware — there are many faked marks on later copies and forgeries.
WHEN WERE THEY FIRST USED? Imperial reign marks in kaishu, or regular script, began to appear regularly at the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and continued throughout the subsequent Qing dynasty (1644-1911). You would not expect to find reign marks on pieces from earlier dynasties. The most common marks on porcelain tend to be written in underglaze blue within a double circle. There was a brief time during the Kangxi period in 1667 when the emperor issued an edict forbidding the use of his reign mark on porcelain in case the ceramics were smashed and discarded. This resulted in many porcelain marks simply comprising empty underglaze
HOW ARE THEY WRITTEN? Reign marks tend to be written in one of two very different-looking scripts: kaishu, or regular script, and zhuanshu, or seal-form script. Kaishu script was introduced in China in the Sui (581-618 AD) and Tang dynasties (618-906 AD) and is what we now most commonly associate with Chinese writing. Zhuanshu script is a much more angularlooking script that originated on archaic Chinese bronzes in the Shang (c.1500-1028 BC) and Zhou Dynasties (1028-221 BC). This style of mark was particularly favoured in the Qianlong period. Depending on the medium of the work of art, reign marks can be written in underglaze cobalt blue or in enamels over the glaze in various colours including iron-red, pale blue or black. They can also be written in gilt and can be incised or impressed.
A Qianlong reign mark in zhuanshu script in blue enamel
Right A gilt-decorated blue-ground painted enamel lotus bowl, cover and stand. Qianlong four-character seal marks in blue enamel. The stand is 15.4cm (6in) wide. Estimated at £2,000£4,000, it sold for £4,750 at the same sale
ANTIQUE COLLECTING 21