Please Help ID with crackle dragon soup bowl

[Eddy]

Hello

Can anyone tell me the age of this bowl and whether it is genuine or false.
It measures 20.5 cm in diameter and 8.5 cm in height.
Thank you very much.

[billbilly]

It says Yongle but I've never seen a grey real Ming porcelain.

[Eddy]

It's not gray it's blue and white.

[peterp]

Not sure if this was made as a fake antique or just a more recent item for actual use. If it is cleaned all the old look is gone. The crackling was artificially induced, the apocryphal mark is for decoration only, and the foot rim has a shape that no antiques have. It is too wide and flat.
Inspection with a magnifier will show if it was transfer printed or hand painted.

[billbilly]

I know it's supposed to be white. There's a reason why I said grey.

[Eddy]

It seems to be hand painted.

[Eddy]

Here is a photo before cleaning

[Eddy]

This blue and white food bowl, Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen Period has the foot rim too wide and flat.

www.alaintruong.com/archives/2014/02/26/29316479.html



[admin] attached image removed.
Please read the forum guidelines regarding posting of external pictures.

[peterp]

First the foot rim is of a completely different type, the consistency of the unglazed clay is different, and the glaze and blue color are also different. These items are hundreds of years apart, and they styles, methods of manufacturing and colors are too. The foot rim is the most important thing when evaluating authenticity and age.
Fine if it is hand painted, but that does only mean that it was not printed; hand painted porcelain is still made today. This dragon is not a Ming dragon, but something that could be at the earliest of the late Qing dynasty. However, in the Qing dynasty foot rims as wide as in the picture link you posted did not exist for bowls. And I do not think that there are any apocryphal Yongle marks in the late Qing dynasty either. Further, the joint of foot rim to inner bottom area is rounded. It should not be. This is not how it was made in ancient times. There was usually a corner, not a radius. A radius usually means an item is not antique.
According to experience this type of blue is usually found on 20th century items, and the crackling too looks as if it also is from that period. The dirt is also suspicious, because even 200-400 year old antiques usually do not look that way. But fakes are frequently made to look dirty, to feign age.

[peterp]

By the way, I just noted the size of the bowl, and that in your last picture there seems to be a step for resting the lid on. I'm afraid this is another factor pointing a 20th century item. Lidded bowls were/are  mostly used for drinking, or are small food bowls. Bowls for eating as big this one do not usually have a lid. Maybe it was intended as a tureen.

[Eddy]

Many thanks peterp for all this information. You have taught me many things. Now I am less ignorant and I know what to look closely to distinguish the true from the false porcelain of China.