Miniature Blue Moon Flask

[kardinalisimo]

That dirty foot rim is not a good sign. Don't know if made on purpose or got dirty with the age. Not seeing any buff color.
What are those black spots around the handles? I see the same black on the inside of the neck and inside of some of the small chips and cracks. Kind of suspicious.
The base is a bit off, like kind of crooked.
I see some age and wear but feel like it is fake. Or maybe not that old as it is supposed to be.
Curious about the way the men figures are drawn. Common for what period?
Thanks

[kardinalisimo]

..

[peterp]

Try to wash it off. Looks like natural dirt.
The ears (aka handles , but they are not handles) look overly simplified. No shaping apart from cutting them from the flat "dough".
You should have a line at the sides, where the front and back halves were fit together.

[kardinalisimo]

The footrim was even dirtier. I washed some but wanted to show it the way it is. Will try some extra cleaning. Don't know how it got like that. Must have been in soil or something?
Don't see any seams on the sides but maybe they are not clearly visable because of the glaze.
So, if not fake, what period? 19th century?
Is it possible the ears were added later?

[shelley Kong]

The ears/handles look proportionally large compared to the body.

[kardinalisimo]

Peter, any idea what is the scene about?
To me it seems like one of the figures is performing a barbarian dance. The only barbarian dancers I've seen are on Yongle pieces but they are dressed differently and no presence  of a man with sword.

[peterp]

To me, one man is carrying a hoe or something for tilling the fields, perhaps. Nothing to do with dancing.


PS: I would be careful using the word "barbarian". :-)
In view to culture the Chinese were probably at a much higher level in those times, than Europe. They thought of all other people as being barbarians.  But, if you should mean that one man was from a non-Chinese people, I don't think so. The clothing suggests otherwise.

[shelley Kong]

To me, both men are Han Chinese. One is a peasant and the other carrying a sword is a scholar/intellectual. This seems to be a goodbye scene from some classics?????

[kardinalisimo]

Yeah, I was probably  wrong. I was thinking of ??? but it is not that.
His arms look weirdly twisted and his hand like he suffers from some bone dicease or something :).

[Stan]

It looks 19th century to me, that would be late 19th century, that is when they were doing these handles or ears so to speak.