Hi, found this very nice plate with colorful decoration. What period could this be from?
The mark on the back I have seen before but don't remember from which period, and what it's called.
Thank you!
Not sure about the mark, since those type of marks are illegible to me. But it looks later half of 19th, perhaps early 20th to me.
This is a Qing dynasty Jiaqing reign floral and insect decoration on celadon. I cannot read the mark either, but it probably is M&P. Some minyao marks of this reign have a peculiarity, the characters in the mark are abbreviated, that is, there is only half of each character written. That is why it is sometimes difficult to recognize, especially if the writing is not very neat too. This is limited to the Jiaqing reign.
Perhaps I'm relying a little too much on the foot rim, but aren't ones from that period supposed to be slanted? This one doesn't look slanted so I just assumed it was later, since I had a Canton export plate with a rim that looked like that, but thought was later because the over all design wasn't the typical cloud and rain pattern.
Slanted rims are generally attributed to the three reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong. In the 'early' Jiaqing reign many things, incl. quality remained similar to the Qianlong reign. Many export plates of this period are slanted, but not all porcelain has such rims. Changes never occurred abruptly, but over many years. It is thought that many of the items with slanted foot rims were stock remaining from the Qianlong reign. It is possible to find such pieces for about 20 years after Qianlong.
Again, you will find both types of foot rims during this reign.
The stock may have been meant for Canton export (my own assumption). The plates were fired in JDZ, then transported to Canton, where the decoration was added and the item was then fired a second time.
Thank you both, very interesting to hear and learn every day.
Would it be possible the mark was there already even before they started decorating the front of the plates?
Sure, the mark is underglaze blue, the decoration is fencai.
Underglaze blue is painted on the unfired body first. Then the plate is fired. The fencai is then added on top of the glaze after the first firing.