Page 8 - The Collectors Hand-Book, Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain Asian Marks begin on Page 130

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siderablc length, followed by those of Japan in the second
section of the Hand-book. These singular characters, which
appear to the casual observer as very similar to each
other, have generally some meaning which relates to the
for which
article itself or to the purpose it was intended.
Sometimes a proverb or legend, such as "Deep like a
"
of or For the use in the General's
treasury gems," public
Hall," is used as a mark ; while, more generally, the
Oriental characters refer to the date or place of manu-
such as "Made in the of the
facture, King-tc period
great Sung dynasty."
It to state, in referring to marks
is, however, only right
on Chinese pottery and porcelain, that as the Chinese
potters themselves have repeated the earlier marks and
dates upon specimens of much later periods than such
marks signify, the collector must not place reliance upon
the marks, except when they agree with the apparent
date of the specimen, as judged upon its merits with
regard to its form and decoration. .

The introduction, or rather the mention of the manu-
facture of porcelain in Europe, dates from the first few
years of the eighteenth century, and is generally attributed
at Meissen in Some
to a chemist named Bottger, Saxony.
of the early marks impressed in the red - brown paste
which is identified with his name will be found, and also
the numerous marks of the different periods of the most
celebrated porcelain factory of Saxony, generally called
DRESDEN.
From Meissen the secret of porcelain-making spread
to Vienna, to other of and
parts Germany, subsequently
to France and England, gradually superseding . the glazed