Unidentified cup (possibly fake, possibly not Chinese)

[skel1234]

Hi, I am new to the forums. I picked this up years ago in an auction lot with some rustic 'ming style' Qing bowls. I have had it sat to one side as 'modern fake?' but I'm not even sure its Chinese. I wondered if anyone had seen anything similar? Thanks!

[peterp]

The shape is too common to tell if it is indeed Chinese. But if the is a mark on the bottom, then likely not. Not a Chinese character mark. Unfortunately, the bottom picture is too blurred. 

[skel1234]

I've added a better photo of the mark. It's unlike any mark (Chinese or English) that I have on my other ceramics - the mark sits into the glaze like it was drawn into the wet glaze before firing, and is picked out in grey. 

Although it was sold to me in an auction lot as 'Chinese Ming', I've never thought it was. I wondered if it could be Korean, or a more modern 'studio' or fantasy piece, or just a fake. I'm completely baffled by it.

If there is anyone who has any idea what this might be I'd love to know - its quite a nice little thing but I have to admit I hate having no idea where it is from or how old it is.

Please let me know if it would be best to remove this from the 'Chinese Ceramics' topic and post in one of the other topics. Thanks!

[peterp]

Yes, this mark is nothing I know of either, none of the three main Far Eastern languages have such a character.
The bottom, specifically the foot rim is neither Chinese nor Korean, as far as I can see, but there are other possibilities, like South East Asia, which made many items resembling the more common Chinese items. The glaze and bottom look old. I doubt that fakers would imitate that, meaning that this appears to really be old.

We also need to be aware that there were the so-called remote area kilns, which may not necessarily show the same characteristics as the mainstream kilns. We almost always judge items by those feature that have characteristics from Jingdezhen or Canton, when it comes to China.
For example, the Chinese know next to nothing about Chinese Martaban wares. They seem to never have entered the Chinese market because they were directly exported over the mountains to Burma. The people in SE Asia are more aware of these.

But still, the mark is something difficult to resolve.