Late Qing/Republic Planter

[bokaba]

Dear Members,

I was wondering if this a late Qing/Republic period planter with tray? It is marked CHINA on the base.

Thank you

Bokaba

[peterp]

Could be late Qing dynasty, in my view.

[Stan]

A China mark was used from late Qing to 1920 after that " Made in China ", what makes me think later is the milky white ground, late Qing would have still had a off white with a slight blueish tint, Peter do you think it could be early republic?

[peterp]

The edict requiring imports to show the country or origin was issued in the 1880s, I believe it was 1886... It is assumed that it really became effective in China about five years later. Still another 20 years to go until the end of the Qing empire.
We do not have pictures of the bottom of the flower pot itself, or of the interior of the tray.

The floral decoration on the top rim is typical late Qing, as is the side decoration and its colors, which were already made in the 19th century and look as if the were made with mineral pigments. The interior bottom is not smooth, but could even be a wavy glaze. The exterior fencai decoration has age/usage signs. If it was 1920s we could expect better, more consistent colors, I think.
Bur really, the top rim floral decoration seems to have been on its way out at the end of the Qing dynasty, after having been used since at least the second quarter of the 19th century.

To Stan:
>what makes me think later is the milky white ground, late Qing would have still had a off-white glaze with a slight blueish tint...

A milky white glaze IS an off-white glaze! The bluish tint referred to above is predominantly found on 18th century and 19th century underglaze blue porcelain. It may not be there on fencai porcelain, or items with on-glaze polychrome decorations. For example, pure white porcelain like the blanc-de-chine made at Dehua kiln is not really pure white. At least not before the very late Qing dynasty. Why? I do not know. It could just be that the bluish tint is some component of the glazes or their vitreous top layer, and the mentioned bluish tint is more often than not found on blue and white porcelain.
But often the porcelain has a tint of another color like green, gray, yellow, etc., rather than blue, when it comes to polychrome porcelain.

[Stan]

Thanks Peter, good explanation.

[bokaba]

Thanks for your great information Peter. Here are pictures of the inside of the tray and the bottom of the flower pot itself.