Page 365 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

CHAPTER XVII

MARKS ON CHINESE POTTERY AND PORCELAIN

THE custom of placing on works of art the name of the maker,
the date of manufacture, or some sign or symbol indicating
the intention with which they were made, dates back in China

at least as far as the Han dynasty. Such marks occur on pottery

and porcelain rarely at first, but with a frequency which increases

in proportion as we draw nearer to modern times. They are in-
cised or stamped in the soft body of the ware, or painted under

the glaze (usually in blue) or over it in enamel colours or gold;
and they are generally placed on the base of the ware, though there

are fairly numerous instances in which the mark is written along
the mouth rim or in some other more or less conspicuous position.

The earliest marks, as far as I am aware, are incised, and those

on the Han, T'ang, and Sung potteries, not to mention the inter-
mediate dynasties, should be scrutinised with the greatest care to
make sure whether the incisions were made before the pottery was
baked or afterwards. There should be no difficulty in determining

this point, for the lines cut with a sharp instrument in the fired

ware are necessarily harder and less free than those incised in the
soft clay, and the edges of the incisions will present obvious differences
in the two cases. Unfortunately the early date-marks which I have
seen up to the present have almost all been cut after the firing.
It does not necessarily follow that such inscriptions are modern

additions. Indeed in many cases they are in a style which is clearly

old. But their value as evidence is very small, for it is impossible
to prove the exact time of their carving ; and at best we can only
regard them as representing the opinion of some former owner
as to the date of the vessel in question. At their worst, they are
deliberate frauds added by modern vendors with intent to deceive.

Incised or stamped marks have always been common on pottery,

but porcelain is usually marked by painting with a brush, and for
this purpose underglaze blue is the commonest medium, red and

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