Page 72 - J. P Morgan Collection of Chinese Art and Porcelain

MARKS AND SEALS

marks on Chinese pottery and porcelain

THEmay be conveniently classified under the
headings:
1. Marks of date: a, regnal; h, cyclical.
2. Hall-marks.

3. Marks of dedication and good wishes.
4. Marks in praise of the piece inscribed.
5. Symbols and other pictorial marks.
6. Potter's marks.
The following lists are not intended to be exhaustive,
being only a selection of such marks as are likely to be

most useful to the collector. For fuller lists I may
perhaps be permitted to refer the inquirer to my

"Oriental Ceramic Art," a copy of which is at hand
for reference in the Library of the Museum.

—I. MARKS OF DATE

The Chinese have two methods of indicating a date.
First, by the nien-hao, or name given to the reign of an
emperor; second, by a cycle of sixty years. The nien-
hao is selected for the regnal title after the emperor
has ascended the throne and dates from the beginning
of the first new year after his accession. It is an
epithet of good augury culled from some classical text,

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