Bowl with carps

[Claudio]

Hi Peter, Stan and friends

Could you please give me any information on this bowl? The mark and the characters are a mistery.

Thank you in advance.

[Claudio]

More photos

[heavenguy]

On "dated porcelain" section on Gotherbog  they have a similar piece with a similar mark around 1921. Unfortunely they don't mention the Shop or who made the piece but at least it  will give you an idea of the age of the piece. Good luck.!!!

[Claudio]

Thank you very much heavenguy for your precious info. Knowing the age of my pieces is fundamental for me. Best regards.

[Hmm]

Looks like it says

Minguo (Republic of China) 9.  I assume it's saying the 9th year of the Republic, meaning 1921. (1912+9).

Perhaps the text about happy fish is in reference to one Zhuangzi's tales.

If you search under google "????", you will find lots of other similar pieces.  Looks like the painter may be ????

[Claudio]

Hi Hmm. Thank you so much for your great input! This is very interesting, I'd never have been able to find it alone. Best regards.

[Claudio]

Deng Bishan was a great painter. There are some examples of his art on the internet and I'm afraid my bowl is a copy, even if probably old. The inner foot rim is rounded, I'd greatly appreciate the opinion of Peter and Stan about this...

[heavenguy]

Wow I didn't know that was a mark of one of the 8 friends of Zhushan. But you are probably right. The paintings are very different and almost like a beginners drawing. Probably all that dirt was made for the vase to look old.

There is one that sold one exactly like you on Golden state auction gallery.

[Stan]

My personal opinion is that this is new and made to look older, I would stay away from items that have this brownish color that was added to the surface and can be washed off.

[Claudio]

Thank you for your answer Stan and Heavenguy. About the 8 friends of Zhushan and their paintings, J.E.Nilsson says that "many artists with greater or less success have tried to emulate their style, it is necessary to carefully examine if the painting style, subject, as well as the style of calligraphy and seal stamp(s) are correct". This is for sure an imitation, but the quality of the painting is good and the price of Golden State auction probably reflect the actual value, as i found another identical syle item on the chinese site Cang at the same quotation. Also the Gotheborg's example of dated porcelain has the foot rim dirty, I don't think this factor alone should be considered a relevant evidence of malicious modern counterfeiting.