Topic: Chinese Vase with MOP on it

[antiquerose123]

Hi I bought this.  Not sure if it is real MOP, or just some Decorative display item form some store -- as I know nothing about it.  Nor do I know what the writing means -- but I kinda like it, and we will go from there.

Nice red finish, with some black accents -- then some writing with what looks like MOP - now whether it is real MOP, or phoney manufactured MOP -- I do not know....see no marks on bottom.  Anyone knows what the Chinese marks say??

Any ideas........Thanks

[keith]

Looks like MOP(took me 10 min's to figure out what MOP meant),the top character is,I think,a variation of 'Shou' meaning long life the others I'm stumped,not so good with Chinese pottery
                     Keith.

[Anne]

Is there a blue-green look to the MOP bits Rose? Could it be Paua shell instead? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paua

[antiquerose123]

Is there a blue-green look to the MOP bits Rose? Could it be Paua shell instead? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paua

??

Maybe not white enough for MOP (for Keith that equals Mother-Of-Pearl shell).....but then the Paua might be a bit too blue.

So my next guess would be:  Abalone ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone

Know nothing about the vase -- but kinda Like it 

[Mosquito]

I'd agree this looks like abalone rather than mother of pearl. Abalone seems to have been quite widely used for decoration in oriental pieces, often in combination with mother of pearl. I have a 19th century Japanese lacquer box covered in abalone and a more modern Korean lacquer vase with abalone inlay.

I can't tell what the first character (reading from the top down) says as it's in a stylised or archaic form, however the central character is 天 (tian1) meaning sky/ heaven and the third character looks to be 眞, which, according to nciku.com is a variant of 真 (zhen1) which means true/ genuine. I'll ask my 老婆 if she recognises the first character...

Some more pictures of the vase would also be helpful for ID, specifically the base/ foot. Also is the red colour paint or a glaze or is it the colour of the body?

Steven

[Mosquito]

Just to add, the character 眞 (zhen) is an archaic form and may have had other meanings in the past which could make more sense: in Daoist tradition 眞 originally meant an immortal transforming shape and ascending into heaven, which may explain it's pairing with 天 here. There's more on this character and it's Daoist significance here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhenren

Also note that 眞 is a character that was also used in Korea (Korea used to use Chinese Hanzi before developing their own syllabic script, Hanzi or Hanji as they're known in Korea are still sometimes seen in certain contexts).

[keith]

Steven,is that first character 'longlife'(shou) then? have a sheet with 100 variations of this so was unsure,
                                             Keith.

[Mosquito]

Hi Keith, it certainly looks like a stylised or archaic version of shou4 (寿 simp.) 'longevity'. I found this image with very similar forms in it: http://www.nipic.com/show/3/24/35a12dc38203fdcb.html

Thanks,
Steven

[keith]

There appears to be quite a few variations........

[antiquerose123]

Hi -- I will try to take some more pics this weekend to post on this issue.....and if that helps anything.  I have not a clue what it might say on it - if anything...LOL