Identify Impressed Marks

[ConJe01]

Hello everyone. I recently won these two little men at auction. The title read they were Chinese Ceramic Figurines, Shou-Xing & Fu-Xing, respectively. It's kind of funny because they had a tab located underneath them which said "Check here for more info.", and there wasn't any. I then emailed the auctioneer to find out more info and was told they didn't have any either, I have been searching and searching for anything I can find on them. Originally I felt it would be easy since half(?) the work had already been done, having their names and a picture of the impressed stamp. I have found a wealth of information; however, I haven't found anything new about these two figures.

From what I have read, I believe the mark would be considered an impressed mark. My first thought was they were trash because everything I had read stated marks were blue or red ink stamps, depending on when they were made. Then I found that during part of the 19th century, some ceramic makers used impressed stamps (sic). I read that if your item had damage, it would take away from its value. Well, I actually already knew that. Then I read that if your item is actually old, some damage like crazing might actually help in validating an item's authenticity. I've looked at thousands of pictures of Chinese marks, but I've only found a couple that even had one of the characters in the marks I have. I've seen lots of figurine bottoms, but none like this. When I looked inside, I figured they were probably recent because it looked like someone just pressed clay into some kind of mold instead of something more professional looking. Of course later I found out press-molding was the method and it wasn't a bad thing.

You can't tell from the picture, but the figures do have minute crazing. You can see it in a few places with a strong magnifying glass. So on the positive side, I'm thinking at least Shou-Xing is actually an antique and worth a significant amount of money. As far as the negative, I guess there really isn't one because I really like them and I didn't pay much for them. The main thing I want to know is their history and all about the process of how they were made.

Thank you to anyone who can offer assistance.

CJ

[peterp]

As you can see from finger prints inside, they were probably pressed into a mould by hand. I would look for similar figurines from Shiwan kiln, although theirs do usually not glazed faces like this.
Shou xing is what some call Shou lao, the god of longevity. Fuxing is the god of good fortune or happiness. There is a trio, usually, but Fu - Lu - Shou, but here is one missing.

[ConJe01]

Thank you, peterp, for your reply. The figures faces are a bit smooth, but I don't know why in the pic they show as shiny as the glaze because they are not.

Could you tell me what makes you think of Shiwan kiln? Is that the only place that does press molding? From what I've read, there were many places(?) there that made pottery. That leads me to believe there probably isn't any way to narrow a search down.

CJ

[peterp]

It is the only place making this type of figurines today, as far as I know. And they often leave the exposed skin unglazed in the color of the clay.